Jorge A. Moreno, Ph.D., a Postdoctoral Researcher at the Stowers Institute, is fascinated with unraveling some of life’s greatest mysteries—aging, adaptation, and regeneration. Moreno studies the "immortal jellyfish," an organism with the ability to reverse its life cycle and transform from adult to juvenile in response to environmental stress. His research recently earned him recognition as a 2025 Helen Hay Whitney Fellow.

The Helen Hay Whitney Foundation’s prestigious three-year, $225,000 fellowship provides independent postdoctoral research support to early-career biomedical scientists. It will allow Moreno to further advance the research project in the lab of Stowers Institute President and Chief Scientific Officer Alejandro Sánchez Alvarado, Ph.D. 

Moreno is currently working to uncover how the jellyfish, Turritopsis dohrnii, rewinds its biological clock and what that might reveal about longevity and cellular plasticity, or the ability of cells to change their type.

“We want to know why some organisms live longer than others,” Moreno explained. “So really understanding this at the genetic level across different species will allow us to better understand why humans age the way we do and potentially alleviate some of the issues we deal with in old age.”

Aging is one of the main causes of some long-term diseases in humans, including neurodegenerative and cardiovascular conditions.

“This award and the support from the Institute and my advisor, Alejandro, means a lot to me,” Moreno said. “When an early-career scientist challenges long-standing principles of biology, or introduces novel organisms, it can sometimes be seen as naïve. But this fellowship embodies the nature of science –embracing creativity and pushing boundaries –and I think it reflects that people believe in me and the science I'm proposing to work on.”

Learn more about research in the Sánchez Alvarado Lab here.