What are the secrets to a long and healthy Life?

Some families have the good fortune to live very
long lives . . .We want to know about those families!

Welcome to Long Life Family Study

The multicenter LLFS enrolled and studied a unique sample of 4,953 participants in 539 pedigrees in the USA and Denmark which are enriched for familial EL. Through two extensive in-home visits, approximately 8 years apart, these families possess key healthy aging phenotypes (HAPs) in major domains of the aging process (cognitive, cardiovascular, metabolic, inflammatory, etc.)

Further, the measured phenotypes are highly heritable cross-sectionally and longitudinally; however considerable familial phenotypic heterogeneity is present. To better understand this heterogeneity and the why and how these families are protected we will: conduct a third in-home visit with existing participants; recruit and enroll the grandchildren of the proband generation for their initial visit; combine linkage and association analyses to identify rare and lineage specific variants for cross-sectional and longitudinal HAPs and EL and their interaction with lifestyle exposures; perform comprehensive OMICs on LLFS pedigrees to discover biologic mechanisms leading to the heterogeneous familial patterns of HAPs and EL in LLFS pedigrees, and discover additional causal variants. Finally, we will combine all the data using systems biology and data integration to more comprehensively explain the biology of healthy aging.

The purpose of the LLFS is to study families in the United States and Denmark that are ALL enriched for exceptional longevity (EL). EL is a complex trait that is likely influenced by multiple genes with small effects interacting with lifetime exposures. The knowledge gained from studying these families will be in why and how they are protected and thus living exceptionally healthy long lives.

This project is supported by the National Institutes of Health’s National Institute on Aging, grant U19AG063893.

Welcome to Long Life Family Study

Ariel Lee

Ariel Lee

Research Specialist

Contact

Phone: 617-353-0965

Email: alees@bu.edu

Dani Raynes-Goldfinger

Dani Raynes-Goldfinger

Research Specialist

Contact

Phone: 617-358-0094

Email: draynes@bu.edu

Stefano Monti, PhD

Stefano Monti, PhD

Computational Biology and Network Modeling

Contact

Phone: 617-414-7031

Email: smonti@bu.edu

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R. Graham Barr, MD, DrPH

R. Graham Barr, MD, DrPH

LLFS Spirometry Reading Center and Training

Contact

Email: rgb9@cumc.columbia.edu

Kathleen Chan, BS

Kathleen Chan, BS

Research Assistant

Contact

Phone: 646-819-3547

Email: kc2963@cumc.columbia.edu

Samantha Dargie, BS

Samantha Dargie, BS

Research Assistant

Contact

Phone: 646-819-3436

Email: sd3552@cumc.columbia.edu

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Susanne Knudsen, MT

Susanne Knudsen, MT

Medical Laboratory Scientist

Contact

Phone: +45 6011 2846

Email: sknudsen@health.sdu.dk

Lars Hvidberg, MSc

Lars Hvidberg, MSc

Data Manager

Contact

Phone: +45 6550 3050

Email: lhvidberg@health.sdu.dk

Jette Martens Jorgensen, ED

Jette Martens Jorgensen, ED

Research Ethics Management

Contact

Phone: +45 6550 3035

Email: jjoergensen@health.sdu.dk

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Iva Miljkovic, MD, PhD, FAHA

Iva Miljkovic, MD, PhD, FAHA

LLFS Co-Investigator; LLFS Morbidity and Mortality Adjudication

Contact

Phone: 412-624-7325

Email: miljkovici@edc.pitt.edu

Allison Dignan

Allison Dignan

Research Assistant

Contact

Phone: 412-383-2384

Email: and210@pitt.edu

Lauren Gibbs

Lauren Gibbs

Research Assistant

Contact

Phone: 412-383-2441

Email: lag@pitt.edu

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