On September 17th, 2026, Frontiers in Science published a new review paper co-authored by AFAR Scientific Director Steven N. Austad, PhD, and AFAR Grantees Matt Kaeberlein, PhD, and Richard A. Miller, MD, PhD, on how 12 potential aging rate indicators (ARIs) could accelerate the development and testing of future therapeutics by providing researchers a faster way to assess whether they are effective in treating or delaying age-related diseases and extending healthspan.
As Dr. Austad describes in a related Frontiers News piece, “ARIs could play a pivotal role in advancing these preventative therapies, culminating—eventually—in human clinical trials that can be completed in far shorter timeframes to speed access to new anti-aging drugs.”
Accompanying the research article, AFAR Board Member Michael Ringel, JD, PhD, co-authored a Policy Outlook piece discussing how biomarkers of aging could be used as supportive evidence in clinical trials while validation continues, as well as considerations around regulatory standards, patient privacy, informed consent, and equitable access to future gerotherapeutics.
In addition to being AFAR’s Scientific Director, Dr. Austad is the 2011 Irving S. Wright Award of Distinction winner and the Inaugural George M. Martin Award winner. He is the founding director of UAB’s Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, and co-director of the UAB Integrative Center for Aging Research, as well as the Co-Principal Investigator of the Nathan Shock Centers Coordinating Center.
Dr. Kaeberlein is a 2006 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research and AFAR Grants for Junior Faculty recipient, and a 2007 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Breakthroughs in Gerontology (BIG) Award recipient. He is also the 2011 recipient of AFAR’s Vincent Cristofalo Rising Star Award in Aging Research.
Dr. Miller is a 1985 AFAR Research Grant recipient and served as the Chair of the 2005 AFAR Research Grant, the Pfizer/AFAR Innovations in Aging Grant, and the Ellison Medical Foundation/AFAR Senior Postdoctoral Research Program Selection Committee, as well as the 2005 Glenn/AFAR Breakthroughs in Gerontology (BIG) Selection Committee.
Dr. Ringel has served on the AFAR Board of Directors since 2023 and is the Chief Operating Officer of Life Biosciences, a biotechnology company co-founded by AFAR Grantee David Sinclair, AO, PhD.
Read the research article, “Aging rate indicators and the search for anti-aging drugs”, here.
Read the accompanying policy outlook, “Governing aging rate indicators from clinical trials to clinical use”, here.
Read more in a related Frontiers News piece here.
