Human Longevity Inc. and LEV Foundation Team Up to Decode Why Centenarians Age Differently

On March 26, 2026, Human Longevity, Inc. (HLI) and the LEV Foundation announced a research collaboration aimed at one of the most fundamental questions in biomedicine: why do some people age dramatically more slowly than others?

The collaboration will study blood samples from centenarians (age 100+) and supercentenarians (age 110+) using HLI’s AI-driven precision longevity platform, combining genomics, proteomics, and other multi-omic analyses. The work will be led by Natalie S. Coles-de Grey, who brings decades of expertise in supercentenarian research.

Why Centenarians Matter for Longevity Medicine

Centenarians and supercentenarians are, in biological terms, the most extreme natural experiment in human aging. These individuals have not simply lived longer — they have often maintained functional health far beyond the point where most people develop chronic disease. Understanding why has implications that extend well beyond academic curiosity.

The prevailing research suggests that exceptional longevity involves a combination of:

• Genetic variants that protect against cardiovascular disease, cancer, and neurodegeneration
• Favorable inflammatory profiles — lower baseline levels of chronic, low-grade inflammation (inflammaging)
• Metabolic resilience — the ability to maintain glucose homeostasis, lipid metabolism, and mitochondrial function across decades
• Epigenetic patterns that differ from age-matched controls, suggesting slower biological aging clocks

Previous studies — including work from Albert Einstein College of Medicine’s Longevity Genes Project and the New England Centenarian Study — have identified specific genetic and proteomic signatures associated with extreme longevity. The HLI-LEV collaboration aims to build on this foundation using more advanced analytical tools.

What HLI Brings to the Table

Founded in 2013, Human Longevity, Inc. has built one of the world’s largest integrated databases combining genomic, phenotypic, and clinical data. Its flagship programs — the Executive Health Program and the 100+ Longevity Programs — deliver comprehensive diagnostic evaluations designed to identify disease risk long before symptoms appear.

HLI’s value proposition for this collaboration is its AI-driven analytical platform. By applying machine learning to multi-omic data from centenarians, the team aims to identify biomarker patterns that distinguish exceptional agers from the general population. If those patterns can be detected earlier in life, they could inform both diagnostics and interventions.

As HLI Executive Chairman Wei-Wu He stated: “By applying our precision longevity platform to those who have achieved exceptional longevity, we can better understand how to preserve health in late life for everyone.”

LEV Foundation and the Aubrey de Grey Connection

The LEV Foundation, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit founded in 2022, is focused on extending healthy human lifespan. Both Natalie Coles-de Grey and LEV Foundation President Aubrey de Grey, Ph.D., are joining HLI’s scientific advisory board as part of the partnership.

Aubrey de Grey has been one of the most visible — and polarizing — figures in longevity research for over two decades. His theoretical framework of “damage repair” approaches to aging (SENS) has influenced a generation of longevity researchers, though it has also drawn criticism for the distance between theory and clinical reality. The collaboration with HLI represents a move toward practical, data-driven research anchored in human populations rather than theoretical models.

From Discovery to Clinic: The Translation Question

The key question for the longevity clinic sector is whether centenarian research can be translated into actionable clinical tools. The path from “we found a biomarker associated with extreme longevity” to “here’s a test that predicts your aging trajectory and a protocol that changes it” involves several unsolved steps:

Biomarker validation. Associations found in centenarian cohorts need to be replicated in larger, more diverse populations. A proteomic signature that distinguishes 110-year-olds from 80-year-olds may not be informative for a 45-year-old seeking prevention.

Causal vs. correlational. Many biomarkers associated with exceptional longevity may be consequences of slow aging rather than causes. Targeting consequences won’t change the trajectory.

Intervention design. Even if actionable targets are identified, developing interventions that modify them safely and effectively in younger populations requires clinical trials — exactly the kind of infrastructure that ARPA-H’s PROSPR program is now building.

What the Collaboration Signals for the Market

Beyond the science, this partnership is noteworthy for what it signals about the longevity industry’s maturation:

Research is centralizing around data platforms. The era of isolated labs running small studies is giving way to collaborations anchored by large-scale data infrastructure. HLI’s platform, combined with LEV Foundation’s access to rare centenarian cohorts, exemplifies this trend.

The clinic-to-research pipeline is running in both directions. HLI started as a clinic operation (diagnostics for consumers) and is now feeding its platform into fundamental aging research. That bidirectional flow — clinical data informing basic science, and basic science informing clinical protocols — is what the LA Times recently described as the defining feature of the emerging longevity ecosystem in the U.S.

Centenarian research is having a moment. Multiple institutions are now studying extreme longevity populations, from Iceland’s deCODE genetics to Japan’s centenarian cohorts to the Italian Centenarian Study. The HLI-LEV collaboration adds another well-funded entry to this growing field.

Whether this collaboration produces clinically translatable insights remains to be seen. But the infrastructure being built — large datasets, advanced analytics, institutional partnerships — is exactly what the sector has needed to move beyond anecdote toward evidence.