For decades, biomedical research has pursued separate cures for heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s. Dr. Nir Barzilai, an Israeli-American geneticist at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, has taken a different path: targeting aging itself as the root cause. His approach, grounded in rigorous human genetics rather than animal models, has already reshaped how regulators and scientists view the possibility of delaying multiple age-related diseases at once.
A Genetic Roadmap From Centenarians
Barzilai, who directs the Institute for Aging Research and the Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging—both funded by the National Institutes of Health—has spent decades studying why some people live past 95 in good health. In 1998, he launched the Longevity Genes Project, which has enrolled over 600 Ashkenazi Jewish individuals aged 95 and older, along with their children. The choice of a genetically homogeneous population, Ashkenazi Jews, allows researchers to isolate genetic variants that contribute to extreme longevity more cleanly than in a diverse group.
One major finding is the CETP gene variant, which is linked to lower cholesterol and a reduced risk of Alzheimer’s disease. His team’s 2013 study, published in the Journal of the American Geriatrics Society, reported that centenarians have a 60 percent lower risk of cardiovascular disease.
Over the course of his career, Barzilai has published more than 200 peer-reviewed papers, laying the groundwork for a field that sees aging not as inevitable decline but as a biological process that can be slowed.
First Approval to Treat Aging as a Condition
The most significant milestone in Barzilai’s career came in 2016, when he obtained Food and Drug Administration approval for the TAME trial—Targeting Aging with Metformin. This was the first clinical trial ever approved to treat aging as a condition in its own right, rather than as a risk factor for individual diseases. The study repurposes metformin, a common diabetes drug, to test whether it can delay the onset of multiple age-related conditions simultaneously.
If successful, the TAME trial could redefine how the FDA and global regulatory agencies classify aging—moving it from an inevitable biological process to a condition amenable to medical intervention. The trial remains the most significant regulatory milestone in the field, and its results are being watched closely by investors, policymakers, and fellow scientists.
Barzilai’s influence extends beyond academia. He has served on the board of the American Federation for Aging Research, known as AFAR, since 2010, and received AFAR’s Irving S. Wright Award in 2021.
In 2008, he co-founded the company CohBar, which developed mitochondrial-derived peptides intended to slow aging. CohBar ceased operations in 2023, but the commercial interest in aging research continues.
Barzilai’s own training—a medical degree from the Technion – Israel Institute of Technology in 1985—and his service as a medical officer in the Israel Defense Forces, including during Operation Entebbe in 1976, gave him a grounding in practical medicine and urgency that he has brought to the laboratory.
What the Data Will Decide
The Longevity Genes Project continues to generate data on the genetic variants that protect centenarians against Alzheimer’s, cardiovascular disease, and other conditions. The TAME trial, meanwhile, represents a test of whether those insights can be translated into a treatment that works for the general population. Barzilai’s work has helped shift the focus of biomedical research from fighting individual diseases one by one to addressing the underlying biology of aging. For now, the field remains at a crossroads between promising hypothesis and proven intervention.
The outcomes of the Longevity Genes Project and the TAME trial will determine how quickly that crossing happens. Readers should consult their doctor for medical advice.
{“@context”: “https://schema.org”, “@type”: “NewsArticle”, “headline”: “Dr. Barzilai Targets Aging as Key to Combating Multiple Diseases”, “description”: “NEW YORK, July 10 — For decades, biomedical research has pursued separate cures for heart disease, cancer, and Alzheimer’s. Dr. Nir Barzilai, an Israeli-American geneticist…”, “datePublished”: “2026-07-10T09:30:00+00:00”, “author”: {“@type”: “Person”, “name”: “Isabella Moore”}, “publisher”: {“@type”: “Organization”, “name”: “InfoPulse Today”, “url”: “https://newsfeed.infopulsetoday.com/”}}
