Blue Zone Research Institute launches, administered by AFAR

On October 13, 2026, AFAR, in partnership with Blue Zones, 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.

The Institute is guided by a central question: Which features of exceptionally long-lived communities can be translated into healthier lives elsewhere? 

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 databank 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 if additional years are spent in good health, and

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

AFAR Scientific Director Steven N. Austad, PhD, serves on the BZRI Advisory Committee, as well as 2016 Irving S. Wright Award recipient and former AFAR Board Member S. Jay Olshansky, PhD, who serves as Chair.

The Blue Zones Research Institute builds on recently published peer-reviewed research articles on Blue Zones co-authored by Austad and Olshansky:

• Read “The validity of Blue Zones demography: a response to critiques” in The Gerontologist here.

• Read “A new blue zone? exceptional late-life survival in Bolotana, Sardinia” in Frontiers in Aging  here.

BZRI will contribute to the body of evidence-based biomedical research on healthy aging that AFAR has championed for nearly half a century and complement 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.

Learn more about the Blue Zone Research Institute in a related press release here.