Estée Lauder Endowment Establishes New Epigenetics Fellowship at UC-Irvine

The University of California, Irvine has announced a new endowment from Estée Lauder to establish an epigenetics fellowship in honor of the late Paolo Sassone-Corsi, Ph.D., who was UCI’s Donald Bren Professor of Biological Chemistry and director of the Center for Epigenetics and Metabolism. Lauder worked with  Sassone-Corsi on new discoveries in microRNA, epigenetics and circadian rhythms in connection with skin. The latest technology in the beauty brand’s iconic Advanced Night Repair face serum is inspired by his research, which helped Lauder understand how epigenetic factors can transform the way our skin ages, according to Nadine Pernodet, PhD, senior vice president, biosciences, the Estée Lauder Companies.

The fellowship will be awarded annually and will support doctoral students involved with scientific work in epigenetics. It will be granted to emerging scientists, scholars who demonstrate financial need and/or first-generation students.

A native of Naples, Italy, Sassone-Corsi joined the UCI faculty as a Donald Bren Professor in 2006. During his significant scientific career, he made seminal discoveries in the field of gene expression and signal transduction in the 1980s and later on with circadian clocks and metabolism. 

Sassone-Corsi died in 2020 at the age of 64. His death came not long after ELC announced a new collaboration with his lab.

“UCI’s partnership with Estée Lauder will enable the School of Medicine to recruit highly skilled, talented Ph.D. students who are fully engaged in pathbreaking research in epigenetics,” said Dr. Michael J. Stamos, dean of the UCI School of Medicine. “We look forward to the deeply impactful discoveries that will take shape through the Estée Lauder Epigenetics Fellowship in honor of the great Paolo Sassone-Corsi.”

Emiliana Borrelli, PhD, UCI Chancellor’s Professor of microbiology and molecular genetics, who was Sassone-Corsi’s wife and collaborator, added: “This fellowship celebrates Paolo’s extraordinary life and career and also commemorates his passion for advancing groundbreaking scientific work in epigenetics and giving back to the community, which are values that UCI and Estée Lauder share. His innovative research over three decades into the mechanisms regulating gene expression in health and disease will be continued by supporting the talented students who are poised to become the next leaders in this trailblazing field.”

“This fellowship is in honor of Paolo and the collaboration between our labs and demonstrates our commitment to his work and the brilliant students who will continue to deepen our understanding of the molecular mechanisms behind aging,” noted Pernodet.

A formal call for fellowship applicants will open in spring 2023, with the first fellow expected to be selected for the start of the 2023-24 academic year. The inaugural fellow will be honored next year at the Paolo Sassone-Corsi Lectureship, which will be sponsored by Estée Lauder.