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

Isabelle Messina

Isabelle Messina

Research Specialist

Contact

Phone: 617-353-0963

Email: imessina@bu.edu

John Lambert

John Lambert

Research Specialist

Contact

Phone: 617-358-0043

Email: johntl@bu.edu

Reena Karki, RN, MPH

Reena Karki, RN, MPH

Research Coordinator

Contact

Phone: 617-353-2218

Email: reenakar@bu.edu

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Alex Robateau, MA

Alex Robateau, MA

Research Assistant

Contact

Phone: 646-819-3520

Email: ar3903@cumc.columbia.edu

Samantha Dargie, BS

Samantha Dargie, BS

Research Assistant

Contact

Phone: 646-819-3436

Email: sd3552@cumc.columbia.edu

Stella Garriga, BS

Stella Garriga, BS

Research Assistant

Contact

Phone: 212-342-1348

Email: smg2274@cumc.columbia.edu

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Anita Hagelskær

Anita Hagelskær

Nurse, Site Coordinator

Contact

Phone: +45 65 50 41 52

Email: ahagelskaer@health.sdu.dk

Matthew Thomas Keys, MSc, BSc

Matthew Thomas Keys, MSc, BSc

PhD Student

Contact

Phone: +45 6550 3794

Email: mkeys@health.sdu.dk

Marianne Nygaard, PhD, MSc

Marianne Nygaard, PhD, MSc

LLFS Investigator

Contact

Phone: +45 6550 9267

Email: mnygaard@health.sdu.dk

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Nancy W. Glynn, PhD

Nancy W. Glynn, PhD

LLFS Co-Investigator; Director of LLFS Field Operations

Contact

Email: epidnwg@pitt.edu

Emma Barinas-Mitchell, PhD

Emma Barinas-Mitchell, PhD

LLFS Co-Investigator; Director of the Ultrasound Reading Laboratory

Contact

Email: barinas@edc.pitt.edu

Dana Winowich, BS

Dana Winowich, BS

Research Assistant

Contact

Phone: 412-383-1942

Email: daw223@pitt.edu

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