Blue Zones Research Institute

AFAR, in partnership with Blue Zones,
has launched the Blue Zones Research Institute (BZRI).


Its mission: to investigate long-lived populations, make validated demographic evidence freely available, and support research into the biological, behavioral, and environmental factors that may help people live longer, healthier lives.

Steered by a world-class team of investigators, the Blue Zones Research Institute is guided by a central question: Which features of exceptionally long-lived communities can be translated into healthier lives elsewhere?


BZRI will help the researchers move from verified records to testable explanations—and, ultimately, to interventions whose benefits can be measured.

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Administered by AFAR, The Blue Zones Research Institute will:

• Create HMD-Blue, an open-source, collection of rigorously validated data on long-lived populations including validated Blue Zones. This dataset will be housed within the Human Mortality Database (HMD), the field’s most-trusted source for global mortality data, maintained by the University of California, Berkeley, the Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research in Germany, and France’s National Institute for Demographic Studies,


• Establish a funding program to support ongoing scientific research on the world’s longest-lived communities, investigate genetics, behavior, physical activity, and other factors that may impact additional years are spent in good health, and


• Foster partnerships and lead initiatives to enhance our understanding of exceptional human longevity and healthspan.

Recent Blue Zones Research

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“The validity of Blue Zones demography: a response to critiques” co-authored by Steve N. Austad, PhD, in The Gerontologist, 12.13.25

Read here
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“A new blue zone? exceptional late-life survival in Bolotana, Sardinia” co-authored by Steven N. Austad, PhD, and S. Jay Olshansky, PhD, in Frontiers in Aging, 10.05.26

Read here

Blue Zone Research Institute Advisory Committee

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S. Jay Olshansky, PhD, Chair
Professor Emeritus, School of Public Health, Division of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, University of Illinois at Chicago.

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Steven N. Austad, PhD
AFAR Scientific Director.
Distinguished Professor, Protective Life Endowed Chair in Healthy Aging Research, University of Alabama at Birmingham.
Principal Investigator, Nathan Shock Centers of Excellence in the Biology of Aging Coordinating Center (NSC3) of the NIH/NIA.

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Dan Buettner
Founder, Blue Zones.

The Blue Zones Research Institute complements studies on long-lived communities worldwide, including the AFAR SuperAgers Family Study, which aims to uncover the biological factors contributing to healthy aging and exceptional longevity among individuals 95+ and their families.


Helping further the growing momentum in geroscience, the BZRI build upon the evidence-backed, biomedical research on healthy aging that AFAR has championed for nearly half a century.

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Stay tuned for updates.

Contact the Blue Zone Research Institute here