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

Stefano Monti, PhD

Stefano Monti, PhD

Computational Biology and Network Modeling

Contact

Phone: 617-414-7031

Email: smonti@bu.edu

Kathryn Lunetta, PhD

Kathryn Lunetta, PhD

Biostatistician, Framingham Heart Study Liason

Contact

Phone: 617-358-2589

Email: klunetta@bu.edu

Reena Karki, RN, MPH

Reena Karki, RN, MPH

Research Coordinator

Contact

Phone: 617-353-2218

Email: reenakar@bu.edu

Megan S. Barker, PhD

Megan S. Barker, PhD

LLFS Dementia Review

Contact

Email: msb2228@cumc.columbia.edu

Claudia Trevino

Claudia Trevino

Participant Outreach Coordinator

Contact

Phone: 347-803-5202

Email: ct3114@cumc.columbia.edu

Lawrence S. Honig, MD, PhD

Lawrence S. Honig, MD, PhD

LLFS Morbidity and Mortality Adjudication; Telomeres in Aging; AD Biomarkers

Contact

Email: lh456@columbia.edu

Susanne Knudsen, MT

Susanne Knudsen, MT

Medical Laboratory Scientist

Contact

Phone: +45 6011 2846

Email: sknudsen@health.sdu.dk

Qihua Tan, MD, PhD

Qihua Tan, MD, PhD

LLFS Investigator

Contact

Phone: +45 6550 3536

Email: qtan@health.sdu.dk

Kirsten Mona Rasmussen

Kirsten Mona Rasmussen

Nurse

Contact

Phone: +45 6550 3821

Email: Kmrasmussen@health.sdu.dk

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

Pam Ruffing

Pam Ruffing

University of Pittsburgh Field Site Coordinator

Contact

Phone: 412-383-1306

Email: pcr12@pitt.edu

Lauren Gibbs

Lauren Gibbs

Research Assistant

Contact

Phone: 412-383-2441

Email: lag@pitt.edu

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