On May 16, 2025, The Wall Street Journal published an article focusing on exceptional longevity and factors that could influence it, such as genetics and exercise. The article features insights from AFAR Irving S. Wright Award winners Thomas M. Gill, MD, and Mark Lachs, MD, MPH, who also serves on AFAR’s Board of Directors.
The experts highlighted factors that could influence the longevity of those over 95, also called SuperAgers, emphasizing that while genetics have a significant impact on longevity, lifestyle interventions, such as exercise and social connectivity, can help to extend healthspan and delay age-related diseases.
The SuperAgers Family Study, led by AFAR in collaboration with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and the Boston University School of Medicine, aims to collect data from a large group of individuals who have lived to age 95 or more. The Study's goal is to understand and uncover the biological factors contributing to healthy aging and exceptional longevity shared among SuperAgers and their families.
Learn more and enroll in the SuperAgers Family Study here.
Dr. Gill is the 2022 Irving S. Wright Award of Distinction recipient. He also serves as Chair of the Leadership Core of Clin-STAR, a National Institute on Aging (NIA)- funded initiative managed by AFAR.
Dr. Lachs is an AFAR Board Member, and former Board President, a 1995 Beeson Scholar, and the 2017 Irving S. Wright Award of Distinction recipient.
Also picked up by MSN, read the article “Americans in Their 80s and 90s Are Redefining Old Age” here.
