American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR)

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New @aarp.org article features insights from Dr. Buford of the UAB Nathan Shock Center, part of the Nathan Shock Centers Coordinating Center that AFAR helps lead for the NIA/NIH. Read here:

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: https://ow.ly/4m1m50XTuof

age-related 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://ow.ly/AZOI50XQjcT

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

AFAR Board member Nir Barzilai, MD, and Grantee Jamie Justice, PhD, recently spoke at the 2025 @forbes.com Healthcare Summit on the panel “The Secrets to Longevity: Giving Patients Longer, Healthier Lives.” Watch here: http://www.forbes.com/video/d7333d9d-387a-47c9-8714-fb949f9c6ee3/

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: https://www.oprahdaily.com/life/health/a69461244/how-to-protect-your-brain/

As 2026 approaches, AFAR wishes you a very happy and healthy new year. We are excited to see what lies ahead in geroscience and aging research, and we appreciate your support. Thank you for considering a year-end gift to AFAR: https://www.afar.org/donate

AFAR’s 4-STAR Charity Navigator rating is achieved by less than one-tenth of one percent of charities. When you donate to AFAR, you can trust your donations go more toward research and not administration. https://www.afar.org/donate

Introducing Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research recipient, Tuoqi Wu, PhD, of the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, who will research "Understand FOXP1 as a gatekeeper of T cell aging." Learn more here: https://ow.ly/H7nt50XJNH0

Introducing 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://ow.ly/FzAU50XJNyf

Introducing 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. Learn more about their research here: https://ow.ly/2KiT50XJE2u

Yahoo!News & Flow Space recently featured insights from AFAR Scholar-in-Residence Raiany Romanni-Klein, PhD, on ovarian aging. Read here: https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/possible-slow-down-ovarian-aging-214620291.html?guccounter=2

Introducing Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research recipient, Noah Snyder-Mackler, PhD, of Arizona State University. Learn more about their research here: https://ow.ly/7FVJ50XJCLE

AFAR congratulates the Gerontological Society of America for receiving a 3-year grant award from the NIA/NIH to establish the Geroscience Education and Training 2 (GET2) Network, built with guidance from several AFAR grantees and experts. Learn more here: https://ow.ly/vTaq50XKrt1

Introducing Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology & Geroscience Research recipient, Jason Sheltzer, PhD, of Stanford University, who will study "Investigating loss of the Y chromosome as a targetable driver of aging-related pathologies." Learn more here: https://ow.ly/f1VA50XJCvr

Introducing Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research recipient, Mattia Quattrocelli, PhD, of the University of Cincinnati, who will research "The Carnosine Clock Ticks for Healthy Aging." Learn more here: https://ow.ly/K8I550XJCkp

Even in a difficult year for research funding, momentum in aging research keeps building. In 2025, AFAR received more applications than ever before. Your year-end gift to AFAR will help support even more scientists who are committed to healthy aging: https://www.afar.org/donate

Introducing Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research recipient, Hadi Nia, PhD, of Boston University, who will research "Inflammaging in the Lung: Dissecting the Impact of Aging on pulmonary vs. circulatory factors." Learn more here: https://ow.ly/R9Q650XJC5k

AFAR is pleased to announce Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research recipient, Jerome Mertens, PhD, of UC San Diego, who will research "Metabolic regulation of resilience in aging human neurons." Learn more here: https://ow.ly/lcXt50XJBqY

Introducing Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research recipient, Katharina Maisel, PhD, of the University of Maryland. Learn more about their research here: https://ow.ly/O0XC50XJB9z

New Research co-authored by Beeson Scholar Reisa Sperling, MD, on the potential connection between moderate exercise and delaying the onset of Alzheimer’s disease in Nature Medicine, Newsweek, Yahoo News, and more. Read here: https://ow.ly/yI0550XGWVL

Introducing Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research recipient, Hongjie Li, PhD, of the Baylor College of Medicine, who will research, "Building Systematic Brain-Body Communication & Personalized Aging Trajectories." Learn more here: https://ow.ly/jFGl50XFZjo

Nature Aging recently published new research co-authored by AFAR Grantee Peter van Galen, PhD, exploring age-related biological differences in human breast cancers. Read the full paper here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-025-00984-1

Introducing Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research recipient, Emma Johnson, PhD, of Washington University School of Medicine. Learn more about her research here: https://www.afar.org/grantee-profiles/emma-johnson

Introducing Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research recipient, Weishan Huang, PhD, of LSU, who will research "Mechanisms of Lung Immune Memory Decline During Aging." Learn more here: https://www.afar.org/grantee-profiles/weishan-huang

AFAR Board Member Richard G.A. Faragher, PhD, featured in Nature Index 2025: Ageing article exploring the debate on whether aging should be classified as a disease. Read here: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03525-3

Introducing Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research recipient, Ramin Herati, MD, of the NYU Grossman School of Medicine. Learn more about his research here: https://ow.ly/g4aJ50XFY1a

AFAR is pleased to announce Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research recipient, Jia Guo, PhD, of Columbia University. Learn more about his research here: https://ow.ly/HSH950XFXLw

Introducing Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research recipient, Brianne Connizzo, PhD, of Boston University, who will research, "Senescence Disrupts Tissue Remodeling and Repair." Learn more here: https://www.afar.org/grantee-profiles/brianne-connizzo

Introducing Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research recipient, Junyue Cao, PhD, of @rockefeller.edu, who will research, "Decipher the Cell Regulatory Network of Mammalian Aging at the Scale of the Whole Organism." Learn more here: buff.ly/sHjyjNj

AFAR Scientific Director AFAR Scientific Director Steven N. Austad, PhD, and Irving S. Wright Award recipient S. Jay Olshansky, PhD, featured in Nature Index 2025: Ageing article on exceptional longevity and the limits of human lifespan. Read here: https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-025-03524-4

AFAR Grantee Randall Bateman, MD, of @washumedicine.bsky.social featured in @cbssundaymorning.bsky.social piece spotlighting clinical trials focused on early intervention in treating and delaying Alzheimer's. Watch the full segment here:

Introducing Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research recipient, Itay Budin, PhD, of UC San Diego, who will research “Functional roles of plasmalogens and their loss in aging cell membranes.” Learn more here: https://buff.ly/XJSAxti

Introducing Hevolution/AFAR New Investigator Awards in Aging Biology and Geroscience Research recipient, Huan Bao, PhD, of the University of Virginia. Learn more about his research here: https://buff.ly/XJSAxti

A Continuation Award will bolster research by Jiping Yang, PhD, of Columbia University Medical Center, funded through a prior Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowship: https://www.afar.org/grantee-profiles/jiping-yang

AFAR and the Glenn Foundation for Medical Research are pleased to announce 2025 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowships in Aging Research recipient Qiang Xiao, PhD, of Scripps Research. Learn more about his research here: https://www.afar.org/grantee-profiles/qiang-xiao

Introducing 2025 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowships in Aging Research recipient Honggui Wu, PhD, of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT. Learn more about his research here: https://buff.ly/ceLVaLt

A Continuation Award will bolster research by Hongyang Xu, PhD, of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, funded through a prior Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowship: https://ow.ly/eLqA50XxbKe

Introducing 2025 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowships in Aging Research recipient Xifan Wang, PhD, of @columbiamed.bsky.social, who will research “Role of gut microbiota in mediating the beneficial effects of rapamycin in delaying female reproductive aging”: buff.ly/6eLTZPl

Introducing 2025 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowships in Aging Research recipient Jorge Sanz Ros, MD, PhD, of Stanford University, who will research “Investigating the Role of Aging & Senescence in Astrocyte-Mediated Synapse Phagocytosis.” Learn more here: buff.ly/yfAWZ7i

AFAR is pleased to announce 2025 Glenn Foundation Discovery Award recipient Christina Camell, PhD, of the University of Minnesota, who will research “Macrophage inflammation; cellular identity and healthspan during aging." Learn more here: www.afar.org/grantee-prof...

Announcing 2025 Glenn Foundation Discovery Award: Elaine Fuchs, PhD, of @rockefeller.edu @thefuchslab.bsky @hhmi.org, who will research “Staying youthful by preventing tissues from retaining life-long memories of past inflammatory experiences." Learn more here: buff.ly/zm3q1xn

A Continuation Award will bolster research by Yuting Tan, MD, PhD, of Stanford University, on “Targeting glycosylation defects to restore efferocytosis and reverse aging,” funded through a prior Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowship: https://ow.ly/ieIn50XxbEM

Introducing 2025 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowships in Aging Research recipient Vinaya Sahasrabuddhe, PhD, of Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, who will research “Investigating the Plasticity and Role of Microglia in Brain Aging.” Learn more here: buff.ly/kC8Z8lX

A Continuation Award will bolster research by Gunjan Singh, PhD, of Brown University, on “Determining the role of Dosage Compensation Complex in regulation of sex-specific aging of brain,” funded through a prior Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowship: https://buff.ly/8hvHIAl

Introducing 2025 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowships in Aging Research recipient Nalini Rao, PhD, of the @gladstoneinst.bsky.social, who will research “Elucidating how aging impairs brain proteostasis and protein clearance.” Learn more here: www.afar.org/grantee-prof...

A Continuation Award will bolster research by Lilian Silva, PhD, of Saint Louis University on “Non-canonical roles of cGAS-STING in aging,” funded through a prior Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowship: https://www.afar.org/grantee-profiles/lilian-silva

Introducing 2025 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowships in Aging Research recipient Tianji Ma, PhD, of the University of California, San Francisco, who will research “Homeostatic regulation of protein-specific appetite in aging.” Learn more here: www.afar.org/grantee-prof...

This year has been a challenging one for the scientific community. So this Thanksgiving, we want to extend our heartfelt gratitude for your support of AFAR. Thank you for your support, and thank you for considering a year-end gift to AFAR this season: https://www.afar.org/donate