By Milton Kirby

Jude M. Phillip, an assistant professor said that his research being conducted at Johns Hopkins University could tell us how old we are not by looking at the calendar, but by looking at our cells. Dr. Phillip and his team are examining and studying the cells in our bodies to better understand their movement and structural features.  Dr. Phillip said the characteristics could be a much better indicator of our true age. For example; one person who is 70 years old can run a marathon and shows very few signs of aging, while another individual could be 70 years old and show multiple signs of aging, including diminished mobility. 

His lab studies biological aging dynamics in the context of health and disease. He combines fundamental engineering approaches with translational aging and oncology research to develop strategies and technologies to probe aging and identify means to modify aging trajectories to drive healthy aging.

In the research that Dr. Phillip and his team are doing, they look at a cell’s ability to move, its ability to stay flexible, and its structure. The team’s findings determined that there are three groups: those whose cell function was parallel to their chronological age, those whose cell function was distinctly older than their chronological age, and those whose cell function was younger than their chronological age. This life-changing research could eventually allow doctors to see aging in the cells before the patient shows any age-related health decline.

Dr. Phillip’s research is the development of innovative treatments for blood cancers, such as leukemia and lymphoma. He has conducted extensive research on the use through the use of immunotherapy, a type of cancer treatment that uses the body’s immune system to fight cancer cells. Dr. Phillip’s work has contributed to the development of CAR-T cell therapy, which is a type of immunotherapy that uses T cells from your immune system to make your treatment. It has been shown to be effective in treating certain types of blood cancers.

Dr. Philip’s work has been published in several prestigious medical journals. Dr. Phillip, who specializes in both hematology and oncology, has spent his entire professional life working to improve both the diagnosis and treatment of cancer.

Dr. Phillip is also dedicated to giving his patients good care in addition to his research. He is known for his compassionate and personalized approach to patient care, and he takes the time to listen to his patient’s’ concerns and explain their treatment options in detail.

Dr. Philip’s long-term goal is to develop and translate discoveries and technologies from the laboratory into the medical arena to improve human health and longevity. He intends to develop robust cell-based biomarkers of aging in health and disease and to establish research pipelines that explain the relationships among age-related dysfunctions, disease progression, and treatment responses. 

His current projects include: 

1. Development and validation of cell-based biomarkers of aging in health and disease (frailty)
2. Scale-dependence of aging – pathways for modifiable aging trajectories
3. Understanding the role of age-induced stroma-immune crosstalk, and how it shapes lymphoma tumor immune-microenvironment (tiME)

Doctor Jude M. Phillip spoke about his research as the keynote speaker for the 2023 A.G. Rhodes Board of Advisors Living Well Luncheon.

Dr. Phillip born and raised on the island of Grenada, is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering, with a secondary appointment in Chemical & Bimolecular Engineering, Oncology, and a core member of the Institute for Nanobiotechnology (INBT) at Johns Hopkins University.

Phillip has a Bachelor of Engineering degree in chemical engineering from the City College of New York and a Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering from Johns Hopkins University. He completed his postdoctoral work at Weil Cornell Medicine with Leandro Cerchietti, MD, and Ari Melnick, MD. (https://inbt.jhu.edu/people/jude-phillip).

Dr. Phillip has received numerous awards and honors for his contributions to the field of oncology. 

Dr. Phillip enjoys being outdoors and experiencing nature with his wife and two daughters. He has run the New York City Marathon twice.

The A.G. Rhodes Living Well Luncheon is a major fundraiser that provides scholarship assistance in the field of caregiving.  The scholarships benefit the staff, residents, and their families.  The Board of Advisors also paid tribute to Laura Smith Spearman and the Smith Family Legacy during the Living Well Luncheon. Ms. Spearman is a longtime member of the A.G. Rhodes Board of Advisors, and third generation of Smith family volunteers and supporters of A.G. Rhodes.

For more than 115 years, A.G. Rhodes (AGR) has been a mission-driven organization guided by what is best for its patients and residents. The AGR Board of Trustees and Board of Advisors enable the mission of the AGR. AGR has become one of Atlanta’s most successful nonprofit organizations.

AGR’s long-standing reputation of providing high-quality care is achieved, in large part, because of its successful compliance program (https://www.agrhodes.org/about-agrhodes).

Jocelyn Dorsey, former WSB-TV Broadcast Manager and member of the AGR Board of Trustees served as host and emcee for the occasion.