Judith Campisi

Judith Campisi established the modern understanding of cellular senescence as a double-edged sword in cancer, demonstrating that while senescence suppresses tumor cell proliferation, the senescence-associated secretory phenotype (SASP) promotes cancer through chronic inflammation and tissue remodeling. Her work showed that senescent cell accumulation, measurable through epigenetic clocks, drives age-related cancer incidence. She is a foundational figure connecting aging biology to cancer prevention.