American Federation for Aging Research

01/16/2026

New research co-authored by AFAR Grantees Turan Aghayev, MD PhD, and Saul Villeda, PhD, on newly identified gene regulators that could possibly restore aging-related decline in tissue repair recently published in Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.
Read the full paper here: https://www.pnas.org/doi/10.1073/pnas.2515183123

01/08/2026

Recent Business Insider article features AFAR President, Thomas A. Rando, MD, PhD, on lifestyle interventions that could help extend healthspan, such as exercise and altering dietary behavior.
Read here:

Longevity researcher Dr. Thomas Rando doesn't take supplements. He stays healthy by running, fasting once a week, and socializing.

01/02/2026

AFAR Grantee Reisa Sperling, PhD, was featured in The New York Times and The Seattle Times, providing insights into LATE (Limbic predominant age-related TDP 43 encephalopathy), a newly recognized form of dementia she helped name.
Read here: https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/28/health/late-dementia-alzheimers.html

01/01/2026

Article co-authored by AFAR Scientific Director Steven N. Austad, PhD, on the validity of the data of Blue Zones, recently published in The Gerontologist.
Read here: https://academic.oup.com/gerontologist/article/65/12/gnaf246/8381533?login=false

12/31/2025

AFAR Board member and multiple Grantee Nir Barzilai, MD, and AFAR Grantee and Cristofalo Rising Star Award recipient Jamie Justice, PhD, recently spoke on the 2025 Forbes Healthcare Summit. They shared insights on the panel “The Secrets to Longevity: Giving Patients Longer, Healthier Lives,” which explored new technologies designed to extend healthspan, as well as lifespan.
Watch a recap of the panel here:

The number of Americans aged 65 and older is growing faster than any other segment of the population. People are living longer, but those years often require more care. This panel will explore new technologies on the horizon that will not only extend people’s lifespans, but their “healthspans”...

12/30/2025

AFAR Grantee Reisa Sperling, PhD, featured in Oprah Daily article on lifestyle interventions that may delay Alzheimer’s and other related neurodegenerative diseases.
Read here:

Everything we know now, and what we hope and pray is coming.

12/30/2025

As 2026 approaches, AFAR wishes you and yours a very happy and healthy new year. Please know how much we value that you share in our dedication to supporting the best science that will extend healthspan and longevity. We are excited to see how and where advances in geroscience will go in the next year and beyond, and we are thankful for your support.
Thank you for considering a year-end gift to AFAR: https://www.afar.org/donate

12/23/2025

AFAR is proud to have earned a perfect 100% from Charity Navigator. This 4-star rating is achieved by less than one-tenth of one percent of charities and recognizes AFAR for using our donations with the utmost efficacy, transparency, and responsibility. When you donate to AFAR you can trust your donations go more toward research and not administration. https://www.afar.org/donate

12/22/2025

View from AFAR: Turning the Clock - Biological Clocks & Biomarkers

As we enter a new year, many of us think about time. In aging research, scientists look beyond the calendar to biological clocks – molecular markers that reveal how quickly our bodies are aging.

An MIT Technology Review story highlighted how new tools, including advanced AI models, are helping researchers uncover these signals and advance longevity science. (https://www.technologyreview.com/2025/01/17/1110086/openai-has-created-an-ai-model-for-longevity-science/)

The field is working to advance biomarkers, measurable indicators of biological age. A major barrier to advancing gerotherapeutics is the lack of validated biomarkers of aging.

Steven Austad, PhD, AFAR Scientific Director, explains:
“Chronological age tells us our years. Biological age tells us our health. The right biomarkers can show whether an intervention is truly turning the body’s internal clock.”

For more insights on measuring biological age, read our Ask the Expert Interview with AFAR Cristofalo Rising Star in Aging Research Award recipient Morgan Levine, PhD.
https://www.afar.org/ask-the-expert/ask-the-expert-morgan-levine-phd-on-using-computer-science-in-aging-research-epigenetic-clocks-and-biomarkers

12/19/2025

AFAR is pleased to announce Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research recipient, Tuoqi Wu, PhD, of UT Southwestern Medical Center, who will research "Understand FOXP1 as a gatekeeper of T cell aging."
Learn more here: https://www.afar.org/grantee-profiles/tuoqi-wu-1

12/19/2025

AFAR is pleased to announce Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research recipient, Deborah Winter, PhD, of Northwestern University, who will research "Understanding the role of noisy chromatin deregulation in aging macrophages."
Learn more here: https://www.afar.org/grantee-profiles/deborah-winter-1

12/18/2025

AFAR is pleased to announce Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research recipient, Peter van Galen, PhD, of Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women's Hospital, who will research "Hematopoietic Stem Cell Diversity Driving Age-Associated Inflammation."
Learn more here: https://www.afar.org/grantee-profiles/peter-van-galen-1