New geroscience initiative aims to accelerate anti‑aging therapies

Albert Einstein College of Medicine has launched the Batia and Idan Ofer program for Validation of Interventions Targeting Aging and Longevity (BIO-VITAL), a new initiative designed to help biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies advance therapies that target the biology of aging.

Housed within Einstein's Institute for Geroscience, BIO-VITAL brings together leading scientists with expertise in molecular, cellular, preclinical, and human aging biology to support industry partners evaluating novel gerotherapeutics. The program combines Einstein's decades of leadership in aging research with specialized research cores, proprietary models, and translational capabilities previously available primarily in academic settings.

Improving healthspan

Einstein has been a pioneer in geroscience for more than 30 years, with research spanning cellular aging, metabolism, longevity genetics, brain aging, and interventions that promote healthy aging. The Institute for Geroscience integrates expertise across disciplines to advance therapies that improve healthspan and address multiple chronic diseases simultaneously by targeting aging itself.

Established through support from the Ofer Family Foundation, BIO-VITAL further strengthens Einstein's position as a leading center for translational aging research and industry collaboration at a time of growing investment in therapies designed to delay or prevent chronic disease. The philanthropic investment is supporting expansion of Einstein's research infrastructure, recruitment of scientific talent, and growth of applied geroscience research.

Aging research at Einstein already has led to multiple scientific breakthroughs. BIO-VITAL was created to help move those discoveries toward therapies that can target aging biology and delay or prevent multiple age-related diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular disease. By working with industry, we can help move promising interventions toward the clinic more efficiently."

Nir Barzilai, M.D., professor of medicine and of genetics and co-director of Einstein's Institute for Geroscience and BIO-VITAL

Expanded research services and partnerships

BIO-VITAL offers collaborators access to more than 30 assays and services across three integrated research cores:

• Cellular Aging & Technology Core, directed by Ana Maria Cuervo, M.D., Ph.D., evaluates cellular hallmarks of aging including autophagy, proteostasis, senescence, and mitochondrial dysfunction.
• Preclinical Aging Models Core, directed by Derek Huffman, Ph.D., employs proprietary animal models to assess physical, metabolic, cognitive, and behavioral characteristics associated with aging and longevity.
• Human Longevity Multi-omics Core, led by Dr. Barzilai and Sofiya Milman, M.D., M.S., validates findings using large-scale human genetics and longevity datasets, leveraging Einstein's longstanding leadership in centenarian and aging research.

Together, these capabilities support blinded drug testing, biomarker discovery, mechanistic studies, target validation, indication selection, and translational strategy development for companies pursuing interventions aimed at extending healthspan.

"BIO-VITAL reflects Einstein's long-standing culture of innovation in geroscience," said Dr. Cuervo, distinguished professor of developmental and molecular biology and of medicine, and co-director of Einstein's Institute for Geroscience and BIO-VITAL. "For decades, Einstein researchers have helped define many of the fundamental hallmarks of aging and develop technologies to study them. We can now make those findings and tools directly available to industry partners seeking to evaluate how potential therapies affect aging on several levels."

"Einstein's strength is our ability to connect discoveries across scales-from molecules and cells to whole organisms and human populations," said Dr. Huffman, professor of molecular pharmacology and of medicine and co-director of BIO-VITAL. "That integrated approach allows us to provide partners with translational insights that are often difficult to obtain within a single research environment. BIO-VITAL is specifically designed to help companies accelerate their geroscience programs."