Life 101: Essential Skills for Mental and Physical Wellness

Mahtab Jafari is a Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of California, Irvine (UCI), where she is also a Professor of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology. She serves as the Director of the UCI Center for Healthspan Sciences, and her research focuses on healthspan pharmacology, examining the impact of botanical extracts and dietary supplements on longevity and health, as well as anti-aging pharmacology and preventive medicine. Jafari holds a Pharm.D. from the University of California, San Francisco, and completed her residency there in Clinical Pharmacy. With over 25 years of experience in basic, translational, and clinical sciences research, she has worked in both academic and private settings, including roles at UCSF, UCI, and Abbott Laboratories, where she conducted large data mining studies on metabolic complications of CNS drugs. In 2005, Jafari returned to UCI, shifting her focus to aging and healthspan improvement through a new field she coined as Healthspan Pharmacology. Her lab has developed phenotypic screening algorithms using Drosophila (fruit flies) to identify compounds that extend lifespan and improve healthspan, resulting in the discovery of several botanical extracts with promising effects on aging and disease models. She has expanded her research to include drug discovery through OMIC-AI technology and testing botanical extract fractions. In addition, her lab is working on optimizing automated phenotypic assays and utilizing machine learning tools to improve drug discovery processes. Jafari also has a strong interest in educational research, developing courses such as Life101 to address stress on college campuses and improve student well-being. She has received numerous academic distinctions, including the UCSF Campaign Dedicated Alumni Award and UCI’s Distinguished Professor Award for Teaching.