FAST Initiative

The FAST (Finding Aging biomarkers by Searching existing Trials) Initiative aims to determine which targeted and omics-based biomarker approaches are feasible yet innovative enough to advance development of biomarkers for clinical trials in aging.

This project aims to advance the pace of aging research and geroscience by using existing trials’ longitudinal biospecimen repositories to perform biomarker analysis across interventions to determine shared and unique changes with interventions that are mirrored in the underlying biology.

During phase one of the project, we plan to develop a large-scale partnership with existing academic research and clinical trials, engage a Scientific Advisory Board and build relationships with trial leaders.

AFAR is grateful to the Astera Institute for its generous support of the FAST Initiative.

FAST Initiative Scientific Advisory Committee

Nir Barzilai, MD, Co-Principal Investigator - AFAR Scientific Director

Daniel Belsky, PhD, Co-Principal Investigator - Columbia University

Kristen Fortney, PhD - BioAge Labs

Marcia Haigis, PhD - Harvard University

Albert Higgins-Chen, MD, PhD - Yale University

James L. Kirkland, MD, PhD - Mayo Clinic

Virginia Kraus, MD, PhD - Duke University

Ameya Kulkarni, PhD - AbbVie

Morgan Levine, PhD - Yale University

Adam Marblestone, PhD - Convergent Research

James Peyer, PhD - Cambrian Biopharma

Nicholas Schork, PhD - Translational Genomics Research Institute (Tgen)

Paola Sebastiani, PhD - Tufts Medical Center

Tony Wyss-Coray, PhD - Stanford University