·      Dr. Tchkonia is a graduate of Tbilisi State University where she received a Masters of Biochemistry. She received her Ph.D. from the Institute of Molecular Biology, Moscow, Russia, and held the academic rank of Associate Professor /Docent at Tbilisi State University.  In 1998, she joined Dr. Kirkland’s laboratory and completed post-doctoral training with Dr. Kirkland at Boston University Medical Center in 2000. In 2003 she was promoted to Instructor of Medicine. Since 2007 she has been working at Mayo Clinic. She is an associated consultant at the Department of Physiology and Biomedical Engineering, at Mayo Clinic and the director of the Facility of Geroscience Facility, an analytical laboratory within the Translational Geroscience Network, a consortium of 8 leading institutions across the US. Dr. Tchkonia is a world leader in the field of the fundamental biology of aging, senescence, and senotherapeutics. She is a co-inventor of senolytic drugs, which have been tested in 20 clinical trials for indications associated with cellular senescence. Dr. Tchkonia is an author of 152 peer- revied publications and a named inventor of over 30 patent applications related to therapeutic approaches for targeting senescent cells in aging and disease.