Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis will head an ambitious study of people who live exceptionally long and healthy lives to identify the factors that account for their longevity.
A team led by Michael Province, Ph.D., professor of biostatistics and genetics, received a five-year, $4 million grant from the National Institute on Aging (NIA) to establish a Data Management and Coordinating Center (DMCC) for the Exceptional Longevity Family Study.
“The trick is not just to live long, but to live disease free. We want to find out how people do it,” says Province. “There is preliminary evidence from many sources that genes play a significant role, especially for the oldest of the old, those who live past 100.”
The DMCC will be the cornerstone of the multicenter longevity project, linking together four study centers (three in the United States and one in Europe) funded by NIA. The study centers will gather genetic and health information from over 3,000 long-lived volunteers and their descendants, and the DMCC will provide a central facility to tabulate and analyze the data gathered.
“There will be a great deal of data,” Province indicates. “We will be looking for genetic risks for cancer, heart disease, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes—all the major risks—as well as asking about personal habits, looking at medical histories, and doing clinical tests.”
The DMCC will also advise the study centers on detailed experimental design and ensure stringent quality control of the data for the duration of the study. “We hope to develop this study into a flagship resource for human longevity research for well beyond its initial five years of funding,” says Province.