Researcher
Judith Campisi
Last updated Sun May 17 2026 00:00:00 GMT+0000 (Coordinated Universal Time)· 2 min read
Background
Judith Campisi (1948–2024) was among the pioneering senescence biologists. She spent most of her career at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in California, with prior appointments at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. She trained at the Boston University School of Medicine and continued working through her final illness in 2024.
Key contributions
The SASP framework
Defined the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP): the complex mix of inflammatory cytokines, chemokines, proteases, and growth factors that senescent cells secrete to influence neighbouring tissue.
This reframed senescence from a cell-autonomous "growth-arrested cells sitting around" picture to a tissue-level driver of dysfunction. Once the SASP was visible, the case for clearing senescent cells (rather than just understanding them) became compelling, and the modern senolytic field followed.
Senescence in cancer
Foundational work on oncogene-induced senescence and therapy- induced senescence — how senescent cells both suppress cancer (by halting damaged-cell division) and promote cancer recurrence (by creating an inflammatory niche that supports surviving tumour cells).
Unity Biotechnology
Co-founded Unity Biotechnology, the first dedicated senolytic company. Unity’s pivot from systemic senolytics to local intravitreal delivery (UBX1325 for AMD) reflects the difficulty of translating Campisi’s lab biology into broadly useful clinical products — not a refutation of the underlying science but a sober adjustment to commercial reality.
Mentorship
A generous mentor whose former trainees and collaborators populate many of the field’s leading senescence labs and biotech companies.
Influence
Foundational to senolytic biology
The SASP framework underpins essentially all modern senescence-targeted drug development. The recognition that senescent cells drive nearby tissue decline (rather than just sitting inertly) made senolytics a coherent therapeutic concept. Without Campisi’s work, the modern senotherapeutic industry would not exist in its current form.
Related entries
Cellular senescence, Senolytics, Senotherapeutic, Senomorphic, Unity Biotechnology, James Kirkland.
References
- Coppé, J.-P. et al. Senescence-associated secretory phenotypes reveal cell-nonautonomous functions of oncogenic RAS. PLoS Biol. 6, e301 (2008).