American Federation for Aging Research

02/19/2026

AFAR Board Member Sergey Young (Founder of the BOLD longevity Longevity Growth Fund) has curated a stellar lineup of experts for our free on March 12 from 12-1pm ET. He'll moderate an evidence-based discussion on biohacking for longevity.
Learn more & RSVP here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_p4aUka1cS6WFsmyyyPXCEg

02/18/2026

View from AFAR: Living Healthier, Thriving Longer

Buzz has been generated recently by high-profile commentary on the prospect of working longer, retiring later, and even ‘unretiring’ to return to the workforce.

For each and every one of us, AFAR hopes that more years of health can inspire opportunities. We also recognize the demand for resources to improve services and systems supporting older adults, and we remain steadfast in our mission to support and advance healthy aging through biomedical research.

AFAR has long-championed research on the longevity dividend: the positive impact of extended healthspan on not just personal and public health but also the economy and healthcare.

AFAR's inaugural Scholar-in-Residence Raiany Romanni-Klein, PhD, offers fresh perspectives to this conversation on the economic gains and social returns of living healthier longer. She poses that it is an ethical, biological, and financial imperative to invest in aging research; in doing so, we are investing in the health of current — and future — older adults.

Addressing socioeconomic concerns on declining birth rates and workforce, she writes in a recent Op-Ed for Boston Globe’s IDEAS section:
“Scientific research that slows biological aging would allow millions of people to remain in the workforce in good health up until the time when they no longer want to work … If older adults were in better cognitive and overall health, this would not only improve their lives but also substantially lower Medicare costs — now around $1 trillion yearly — while relieving burdens on roughly 40 million Americans who today are unpaid caregivers of older adults."

To explore further, read Dr. Romanni-Klein's newly published The Boston Globe OpEd “America’s next moonshot: Ultra-healthy 60-somethings” or watch her recently released TEDxBoston Talk “Dying, Fast and Slow: The Ethics & Economics of Human Longevity.” Find both here: https://www.afar.org/news/afar-expert-in-the-news-new-op-ed-and-tedxboston-talk-by-scholar-in-residence-raiany-romanni-klein-phd-on-the-socioeconomic-gains-of-healthy-aging

02/17/2026

Excited to hear the insights that 2025 AFAR Cristofalo awardee, and developer of the DunedinPACE biological aging test, Daniel W. Belsky, PhD, of Columbia Public Health and Columbia University Irving Medical Center, will bring to our free exploring the evidence behind biohacking for longevity. Join AFAR on March 12th from 12-1pm ET.
Learn more & RSVP here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_p4aUka1cS6WFsmyyyPXCEg

02/12/2026

Biohacking is a rapidly rising approach to extending health that combines science, lifestyle changes, smart tools, proactive diagnostics, and actionable biodata, with the aim of "optimizing" cellular function and vitality. Join AFAR for a discussion on evidence-based biohacking for longevity with leading medical doctors and academics.
Thursday, March 12th, from 12-1pm ET.
Learn more & RSVP here: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/WN_p4aUka1cS6WFsmyyyPXCEg

02/11/2026

Winter Reading from AFAR: Longevity in Nature

As part of AFAR’s Winter Reading series, we’re highlighting books authored by AFAR-affiliated experts whose research is advancing our understanding of healthy aging and longevity.

This month, we spotlight Methuselah’s Zoo: What Nature Can Teach Us About Living Longer, Healthier Lives” by Steven Austad, PhD, AFAR Scientific Director.

A former lion trainer himself, Dr. Austad takes readers on a journey across land, sea, and sky to explore animals with extraordinary lifespans, from centuries-old whales and sharks to bats, birds, and even tubeworms that live for millennia.

The takeaway? Studying how these species avoid disease and age more slowly in the wild can reveal clues about why humans age and how we might extend both lifespan and healthspan.

Explore and purchase Dr. Austad's latest book here: https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/710656/methuselahs-zoo-by-steven-n-austad/

Stay tuned for more insights from Dr. Austad in a new short doc that AFAR is producing with BBC Stories as part of the Global Coalition on Aging's AgeReimagined series this spring!

02/11/2026

AFAR Leadership in the News: Research co-authored by AFAR President Thomas A. Rando, MD, PhD, on muscle stem cell resilience and aging recently published in Science.
Read a related UCLA feature here:

Aging muscles heal more slowly after injury — a frustrating reality familiar to many older adults.A new UCLA study conducted in mice reveals an unexpected cause: Stem cells in aged muscle accumulate higher levels of a protein that slows their ability to activate and repair tissue, but helps the ce...

02/06/2026

AFAR Grantees in the News: New research in Nature co-authored by Denise Cai, PhD, and Changyang Linghu, PhD, on a new tool, CytoTape, which was developed with AI to analyze cellular processes over time and at scale by recording cell activity continuously for weeks without disrupting normal cell function.
Read a related press release with link to the Nature article here: https://www.michiganmedicine.org/health-lab/protein-tape-recorder-enables-scientists-measure-and-decode-cellular-processes-scale-and-over-time

02/05/2026

Board Member in the News: Recent research co-authored by Ana Maria Cuervo, MD, PhD, on how the cellular cleanup system called chaperone-mediated autophagy (CMA) affects muscle health highlighted in new Medscape article.
Read the full article here:

Companion studies suggest muscle begins to decline decades before sarcopenia takes hold for keeps. The best part: The process could potentially be halted and reversed.

02/04/2026

AFAR Grantee in the News: New research co-authored by Zeda Zhang, PhD, published in Nature identifying a possible new method of cancer treatment focused on targeting a small group of highly adaptable cancer cells believed to be responsible for tumor progression and treatment resistance.
Learn more in a related Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center news article here:

A small number of cancer cells with the ability to change their identities and behaviors appear to be a key driver of cancer progression and its ability to evolve resistance to treatment, MSK researchers have found in a laboratory study of lung cancer.

02/02/2026

In the recent fifth anniversary issue of Nature Aging, Scientific Director Steven N. Austad, PhD, and President Thomas A. Rando, MD, PhD, along with numerous AFAR grantees, scientific award recipients, and board members, lent insights to a special Q&A reflecting on the past, present, and future of aging research.
Read here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-025-01046-2

01/30/2026

AFAR Grantees in the News: New Research Co-authored by Zhixun Dou, PhD, and Yanxin Xu, PhD, on metformin as a possible treatment to reduce age-related inflammation caused by cytoplasmic chromatin fragments (CCFs), published in Nature Aging.
Read the full paper here: https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-025-01048-0

01/29/2026

❄️ Winter Reading from AFAR: New Year, Better Timing ❄️
We’re kicking off AFAR’s Winter Reading series, where we spotlight books authored by AFAR-affiliated researchers and experts whose work is shaping the future of .
First up in the series is “The Circadian Code” by AFAR grantee Satchin Panda, PhD, a leading researcher in circadian rhythms and aging. Dr. Panda’s AFAR-funded research helped advance insights into how our internal biological clocks influence metabolism, energy, and long-term health, which are ideas he brings to life in this book.
As many of us think about New Year’s resolutions around health and longevity, “The Circadian Code” offers us a reminder that it’s not just what you eat, but when you eat.
If you’re looking to start the new year with habits that work with your biology, this winter read is a great place to begin!