Paola Timiras, UC Berkeley molecular and cell biology professor emerita known for her multidisciplinary approach on aging research, died of heart failure in Oakland on Sept. 12. She was 85.

During her 53 years at UC Berkeley, Timiras taught undergraduate lectures and graduate seminars on physiology and biology. In 2001, she founded the Center for Research and Education in Aging to study why the human body ages and what can be done to reverse the process.

Timiras' most successful research involved how the human body repairs itself and her extensive study of the endocrine system, said UC Berkeley bioengineering professor and colleague Thomas Budinger.

Timiras pushed for the integration of different fields, including economics, public health and sports medicine, in aging research.

"Isn't it curious that we're all going to die, we're all aging, but that we have no intellectual courage or organization to make inquiries into the process of aging?" Budinger said of the questions she asked.

Timiras launched her UC Berkeley career in 1955 as an assistant physiologist and then as a full-time physiology and anatomy professor in 1967.

Eleven years later, she was chosen as the chair of the department. She became a molecular and cell biology professor in 1989 and retired in 1994. After her retirement, Timiras continued to teach for 10 years without pay, according to George Brooks, UC Berkeley integrative biology professor and one of Timiras's colleagues at the center.

"She was a brilliant person," Budinger said. "She treated undergrads with great respect and enthusiasm. She was particularly fond of promoting undergraduate education."

Timiras earned her medical degree from the University of Rome, Italy in 1947 and her doctorate in experimental medicine from the University of Montreal in 1952.

She wrote more than 15 books and won many awards, including a medal from the University of Pisa for promoting Italy-U.S. scientific relations.

"She helped, with the power of her intellect and will, create the field of aging research," Brooks said.

According to UC Berkeley public health professor William Jagust, her research has assisted multiple departments at UC Berkeley that are now looking into aging, including public health, psychology and demography.

While Timiras was renowned for her research, her legacy goes deeper than just her work ethic, colleagues said.

"I can see her assuming that she'd come through and be back at work the next day. She was full of health, until recently, and she exemplified what successful aging is meant to be," said Kathy Collins, molecular and cell biology professor.

Timiras is survived by her son, Paul Timiras, and her daughter, Mary Letitia Timiras.

Tags: MOLECULAR AND CELL BIOLOGY, OBITUARY