American Aging Association

We're happy to join all of you here on Bluesky! Be sure to give us a follow and check out our site for new announcements and opportunities in research on aging biology! www.americanagingassociation.org

New study, 123 adults: gut microbiome makeup lined up with ~15% of the variation in biological aging pace. B. adolescentis ↔ slower aging, S. dextrinosolvens ↔ faster. Correlation only, so markers or drivers is still unknown. doi.org/10.1038/s415...

Longevity Week, 3 new studies: 🧬 SRSF1 gene: +14% median lifespan in aged mice (no human data) 🔬 Menopause map: hormone shifts start 12–15 yrs early (1M+ women, observational) 🧫 Cell reset: under-20 clock age from an 80-yr-old's cells (1 donor, in a dish) doi.org/10.1038/s43587-026-01234-8

Why do zombie cells pile up with age? 🧟 Einstein: declining chaperone-mediated autophagy impairs senescent cells AND the macrophages that clear them. A CMA-boosting compound cleared them in aged mice. Mostly mouse data. doi.org/10.1038/s435... #Senescence

Shingles shot, slower aging? 💉 In 3,884 US adults 70+, vaccinated people had lower inflammation and slower epigenetic aging. Observational, so it can't prove cause. J Gerontol A. doi.org/10.1093/gero... #BiologicalAge

APOE4 may damage the brain's blood vessels 🧬 Mount Sinai: it turns vessel-support cells into scar-makers. Blocking TGF-β reversed it in human tissue models and aged mice. Preclinical only. Cell. doi.org/10.1016/j.ce... #Alzheimers

Want to help dogs live longer, healthier lives? Join the Dog Aging Project Pack at dogagingproject.org! 🐾Together, we can help dogs live longer, healthier lives. #PackSpotlight #Dogs #CommunityScience

Fat loss without muscle loss? 🏋️ In 123 adults (avg age 72), six months of HIIT cut fat and kept lean mass, while moderate exercise cost a little. Authors say effects were small. doi.org/10.1016/j.ma... #HealthyAging

A brain protein may act like an aging brake 🧠 In mice, Menin drops with age. Restoring it in 20-month-old mice improved skin, bone and memory in 30 days. Mice only. PLOS Biology 2023. doi.org/10.1371/jour... #GeroScience

Aging may lengthen our lipids 🧬 Chain length rises with age across mice, worms, flies & humans. Knocking down Plb1 in worms reversed it and extended lifespan. Worm data only for lifespan. doi.org/10.1038/s435... doi.org/10.1038/s435... #GeroScience

Immune aging may hit males earlier 🧬 In mice, naive CD8+ T cells decline sooner, lymph nodes shrink, and tumor recognition drops. Thymus regeneration helped. Mouse data, preprint. doi.org/10.1101/2025... #Immunosenescence

Senescent cells may have a chemical fingerprint. RamanOmics pairs Raman imaging with spatial transcriptomics. In old mouse lung & skin, a lipid-linked signal marked p21+ cells. Mouse data, correlation only. doi.org/10.1038/s435... doi.org/10.1038/s435... #Senescence

MIND diet + brain aging 🧠 Framingham study, 1,647 adults, ~12 yrs of MRIs: each 3-pt higher MIND score = slower grey matter loss, ~2.5 yrs of delayed brain aging. Observational, so not proof of cause. doi.org/10.1136/jnnp... www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202... #BrainHealth #GeroScience

Your voice may be an aging clock 🎙️ 2,928 adults, 5 Latin American countries: speech that sounds "older" than your age tracked with brain age, epigenetic age & dementia. Cross-sectional data. www.science.org/doi/10.1126/... www.tcd.ie/news_events/... #GeroScience #BiologicalAge

Studying cancer, diabetes, or neurodegeneration? You're studying aging 👀 The AGE Early Career Scholars Program: 25 awards, $1,300 travel funding, mentorship + a talk at AGE 2027. Open to undergrads → postdocs. Deadline: Dec 1 🧬 age.memberclicks.net #AGEScholars #Geroscience

New npj Aging consensus paper: researchers are proposing standardized biomarker data collection for longevity biotech trials — because right now, results from different companies' trials can't even be meaningfully compared 🧬📋 doi.org/10.1038/s415... #GeroScience #AgingBiomarkers #LongevityBiotech

Longevity biotech raised ~$3.74B across 49 deals in Q1 2026 alone — up 56% YoY. Capital is increasingly targeting the underlying biology of aging itself, not just its symptoms (Forbes, data via Longevity.Technology/PitchBook) www.forbes.com/sites/darias... #GeroScience #LongevityBiotech

400 people with diabetes, tracked 14 days: more glucose variability (within safe range) was linked to BETTER next-day quality of life, not worse. Researchers say chasing a perfectly flat blood sugar line may itself be a hidden burden 🩸 www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...

Stanford researchers who build biological age clocks are urging caution on commercial tests: no FDA approval as diagnostics, ~3 years of built-in error per Dr. Rehkopf, and even rapamycin (proven in animals) shows confusing signals on human clocks 🧬🔬 med.stanford.edu/news/insight...

Calling AGE trainees! LRC's Fall 2026 Journal Club on Epigenetics & Aging kicks off week of Oct 12 — 3 biweekly sessions, present just 1 key figure, open to grad students/postdocs/early-career researchers everywhere 🧬📚 Sign up: docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1F... #AGETrainees #GeroScience

A review of 350+ studies — co-authored by 2026 AGE award winner Bailey Knopf — finds eating LESS protein may improve metabolism and extend lifespan in sedentary adults. Active people still need it. eurekalert.org/news-releases/1137190 #AGE2026

One brain protein, many signs of aging. Restoring "Menin" in old mice improved memory, bone density, and skin thickness all at once. Mouse research, but a striking single biological switch. sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260918000437.htm #AgingResearch #AGE2026

A liver hormone called Hepassocin drops with age in mice AND humans. Without it, aged mice barely survive liver injury (40% vs 87%). Restoring it reversed liver aging and rescued survival. nature.com/articles/s41392-026-02773-7 #AgingResearch #AGE2026

An AI-designed lung drug had an unexpected side effect: 6 aging clocks all found lower biological age in treated patients, peaking at week 4. Early, small-scale evidence — not proof of reversal. insilico.com/news/rnt0709261-rentosertib-proteomic-aging-clocks #AGE2026

Laurence Maeyens (UT Health San Antonio) has 3 honors in 2 years: 2025 AGE Poster Pitch Award, 2026 AGE Trainee Travel Award, and a 2026 BSRA Travel Award to represent AGE at Oxford. His work: androgens & the male longevity gap. linkedin.com/in/laurencemaeyens #AGE2026

New study from UC Berkeley (NIH-funded): semaglutide extended lifespan in older mice and outperformed calorie restriction on some measures (memory, blood sugar) even when food intake was matched 🐭🧬 Mouse study only — doesn't show human lifespan extension. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202...

Want to help dogs live longer, healthier lives? Join the Dog Aging Project Pack at dogagingproject.org! 🐾Together, we can help dogs live longer, healthier lives. #PackSpotlight #Dogs #CommunityScience

UCLA study, ~1,500 adults, 3 cohorts: built a "Brain Aging Index" from resting brain scans. Older-looking brains = worse memory/executive function + more depressive symptoms, even in young/midlife adults. Gut bacteria linked to the effect. www.thelancet.com/journals/ebi... #BrainHealth #GeroScience

Always great to host the @americanaging.bsky.social best ECR presentation as part of the BSRA-AGE longstanding relationship. Who will win the Korenchevsky Prize and represent the BSRA as our best ECR speaker at AGE 2027? Find out at prizegiving at the end of day 3!

Maria Branyas lived to 117 — the longest-lived person recorded. A new study found she had BOTH extreme aging markers (short telomeres) AND protective traits (low inflammation, younger epigenetic age). sciencedaily.com/releases/2026/09/260909231800.htm #AGE2026

Sea squirts are unusually rich in plasmalogens — a lipid that declines with age. Fed to aged mice: faster learning, healthier brain synapses, less inflammation, even darker regrown hair 🐙🧠 Animal study only, but a wild new angle on brain aging. doi.org/10.3389/fmol... #GeroScience #BrainHealth

This Labor Day, honoring the researchers and clinicians across geroscience working every day toward more healthy years for the aging community 🔬🧬 Thank you for the work. Happy Labor Day from AGE. #LaborDay #GeroScience #AmericanAgingAssociation

New cell research: SIRT1 protects the genome by blocking "jumping genes" (LINE-1) from copying themselves elsewhere — a mechanistic clue behind a decade of sirtuin longevity research. Cell-based only so far, not yet in animals/people. lifespan.io/a-mechanisti... #GeroScience #HallmarksOfAging

New findings from the The Dog Aging Project examined blood metabolites from dogs across the country and found metabolic patterns tied to lifespan that closely mirror biomarkers already linked to human aging. Source: www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202... #GeroScience

Congrats to Dr. Yang Yeh winner of a 2026 AGE Poster Pitches Award. A postdoctoral fellow in Dr. Dudley Lamming's Metabolism of Aging lab at the University of Wisconsin Madison. Nearly 20 publications, NIH K99/R00-funded, studying metabolism's role in aging & Alzheimer's.

Congrats to Laurence Maeyens a PhD student in Biology of Aging at UT Health San Antonio for wining 2026 Trainee Travel Award AND 2025 AGE Poster Pitch Award winner. His research spans hormone timing and fat tissue's role in the male longevity gap.

Congratulations to Roberto Santin Marquez of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, winner of the 2026 Paul F. Glenn Award. His research explores how a hormone-signaling pathway affects metabolism differently in males and females. #AgingResearch #Geroscience #AGE2026

Congrats to Caitlyn Smith- #UniversityOfKentucky, winner of the 2026 Walter R. Nicolai Award for her research on sex differences in age-related immune inflammation in adipose tissue. Read more: medicine.uky.edu/users/csm277 americanagingassociation.org/awards #AGE2026

Your "biological age" test result depends on which lab you use. Even the scientist who invented epigenetic clocks admits there's no shared standard yet. The biology's real — the hype's ahead of it. ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC12905613 #AGE2026 #Biolog icalAge

Adele Finch of Brown University and the Buck Institute for Research on Aging took home both a 2026 Poster Pitches Award and an Early Career Scholar Travel Award. Her research explores how brain cells clear out damaged mitochondria to stay healthy. #BrainHealth #AgingResearch #AGE2026

Congratulations to Laura Quijano Sarraga of the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, who earned both a 2026 Data Blitz Award and an Early Career Scholar Travel Award. Learn more: americanagingassociation.org/awards #AgingResearch #WomenInSTEM #AGE2026

Your DNA mutates every day. Repair slows with age → mutations pile up → some cell populations start to take over. A 2024 GeroScience review tracked this in blood stem cells. This is hallmark #1: genomic instability. 🔗 link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s11357-024-01374-y #HallmarksOfAging #AGE2026

Double win for Rola Zeidan (Univ. of Florida) at AGE 2026: Data Blitz Award + Early Career Scholar honor for her work on iron biomarkers and muscle decline. americanagingassociation.org/awards #AGE2026

Double win for Helene Martini (Mayo Clinic) at AGE 2026: Poster Pitches Award + Early Career Scholar for her research on mitochondria and senescent "zombie cells." americanagingassociation.org/awards #AGE2026

Your heart, brain & liver may each be aging at different rates. A 2026 Nature Aging paper built organ-specific biological age clocks to measure exactly that. nature.com/articles/s43587-026-01113-2 #BiologicalAge #AGE2026

Your DNA repair systems slow with age — letting damage accumulate. A 2025 Nature Reviews Drug Discovery paper argues we may soon be able to "supercharge" DNA repair to slow aging. Hallmark #1. pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/40506534/ #HallmarksOfAging #AGE2026

Spotlight: Hannah Ampofo (UNT Health Science Center), 2026 Early Career Scholar. Blocking blood flow in one neck artery injures BOTH sides of the aging brain in mice — a new angle on cognitive decline. americanagingassociation.org/2026-age-early-career-scholars #AGE2026

New PLOS Digital Health study: "retinal biological age" from routine eye scans predicted future osteoporosis risk over a decade of follow-up. Non-invasive equipment doctors already use, catching bone decline early. medicalxpress.com/news/2026-05... #GeroScience #BiologicalAge #Osteoporosis

PEARL trial (114 adults, 48 wks): rapamycin missed its main goal (visceral fat). But women on the 10mg dose saw real gains in lean muscle & less pain — not seen in men 💊 Honest science: one miss, one real signal. www.aging-us.com/article/2062... #GeroScience #Rapamycin #AgingResearch

The most-cited framework in aging research: 12 "hallmarks of aging," from genomic instability to cellular senescence to chronic inflammation — each a real target for intervention. doi.org/10.1016/j.ce... #HallmarksOfAging #GeroScience #Longevity

CALERIE-2, the first controlled human CR trial: cutting calories by just 14% over 2 years regrew part of the thymus & boosted fresh T cell output 🧬 Researchers found a gene (PLA2G7) that may explain why. www.sciencedaily.com/releases/202... #GeroScience #ImmuneAging #AgingResearch