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

Kathryn Lunetta, PhD

Kathryn Lunetta, PhD

Biostatistician, Framingham Heart Study Liason

Contact

Phone: 617-358-2589

Email: klunetta@bu.edu

Natalie Fletcher

Natalie Fletcher

Research Project Manager

Contact

Phone: 617-358-8201

Email: nfletch@bu.edu

Vidhi Patel

Vidhi Patel

Research Specialist

Contact

Phone: 617-358-0094

Email: vidhi@bu.edu

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Samantha Dargie, BS

Samantha Dargie, BS

Research Assistant

Contact

Phone: 646-819-3436

Email: sd3552@cumc.columbia.edu

Claudia Trevino

Claudia Trevino

Participant Outreach Coordinator

Contact

Phone: 347-803-5202

Email: ct3114@cumc.columbia.edu

Miji Suhr, BS

Miji Suhr, BS

Research Assistant

Contact

Phone: 646-787-6637

Email: mas2591@cumc.columbia.edu

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Jonas Mengel-From, MSc

Jonas Mengel-From, MSc

Danish Laboratory Manager

Contact

Phone: +45 6550 4139

Email: jmengel-from@health.sdu.dk

Mette Soerensen Thinggaard, PhD, MSc

Mette Soerensen Thinggaard, PhD, MSc

LLFS Investigator

Contact

Phone: +45 6550 3376

Email: msoerensen@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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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

Bailee Fleming

Bailee Fleming

Research Assistant

Contact

Phone: 412-420-4551

Email: baf71@pitt.edu

Allison Dignan

Allison Dignan

Research Assistant

Contact

Phone: 412-383-2384

Email: and210@pitt.edu

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