Extended Support for Longevity Research — The National Institute on Aging has awarded Dr. Nir Barzilai more than $2 million over five years to extend the ongoing LonGenity project at Einstein. The long-term goal of the research has been to identify genes and traits that protect against age-related maladies, such as cardiovascular and metabolic diseases, extending human longevity. In order to find these “longevity genes,” Dr. Barzilai and his team examined the genomes of remarkably healthy centenarians and their offspring who were recruited from a homogenous Ashkenazi Jewish population. To date, they have identified several genes, mutations and pathways that demonstrate a role in longevity and appear to be inherited from generation to generation. As part of the new project proposal, the Barzilai research team will follow up with their existing cohort, validate their previous findings in additional cohorts and establish resources to store, maintain, and share with other investigators the extensive genomic and phenotypic data and biological samples that they have collected through their project. Dr. Barzilai is professor of medicine and of genetics, director of the Institute for Aging Research and the Ingeborg and Ira Leon Rennert Chair in Aging Research.
Posted on: Friday, March 28, 2014