Aging and longevity — NIH Funding Overview
Reviewed by Dr. Meng ZhaoLast reviewed June 9, 2026Data refreshed June 9, 2026Editorial standards
Aging research at NIH covers basic mechanisms of cellular senescence, geroscience, age-related disease, and translational interventions. The National Institute on Aging (NIA) is the primary funder but most institutes contribute to age-related applications in their disease scope.
Funding snapshot
Award data on this page reflects a snapshot of NIH RePORTER records last refreshed on June 9, 2026. For live numbers, use the interactive trends view.
Why this matters now
Geroscience — targeting fundamental aging biology to prevent multiple age-related diseases simultaneously — has shifted from a niche concept to a mainstream NIH funding theme, with the Geroscience Interest Group coordinating cross-institute awards. Translational efforts include the TAME (Targeting Aging with Metformin) trial and rapamycin-class studies.
How NIH funds this area
NIA mechanisms dominate (R01, P01, P30 Centers, U19), with cross-institute U54 and Common Fund awards filling translational gaps. The data below covers all NIH awards mentioning aging in title, abstract, or terms.
How to use this funding brief
Use this page to decide whether the proposal addresses fundamental aging biology, a geriatric outcome, or an age-related disease. Broad aging terms can hide distinct review communities, so compare center and program grants separately from disease-specific R01 portfolios.
Official source: National Institute on Aging: Research mission and programs
Search tactics
- Search "geroscience", "senescence", or "longevity" for biology-focused subsets.
- Combine with "frailty", "sarcopenia", or "cognitive aging" for clinical applications.
- NIA P30 centers (Pepper, Roybal, Claude D. Pepper, Nathan Shock) anchor institutional aging research.
What the data shows
- Funding peaked in FY2025 at $4.9B. The FY2025 total of $4.9B is +18% versus FY2021.
- The number of awards fell about 8% in FY2025 even as total dollars grew — funding is concentrating in fewer, larger awards.
- About 87% of FY2026 dollars so far are renewals and continuations. Mid-year snapshots overweight renewals because non-competing continuations are issued early in the fiscal year, but the share still indicates how much of the portfolio is committed before new applications compete.
- The average FY2025 award was $686K, and R01 was the most common mechanism in the recent window.
Editorial read
This is the largest portfolio we track — nearly $4.9B in FY2025 across almost 40,000 awards in five years — reflecting a decade of NIA budget growth and a keyword that spans basic geroscience through dementia care. Because it overlaps heavily with the Alzheimer’s portfolio, read both pages together before drawing conclusions about “aging” as a single market; the geroscience and care-delivery ends of this category compete in very different review communities.
Yearly NIH Awards for Aging and longevity
Counts and total funding per fiscal year from NIH RePORTER. Recent fiscal years may understate final totals because of reporting lag.
| Fiscal Year | Project Count | Total Funding | Avg Award |
|---|---|---|---|
| FY2021 | 6,987 | $4,126,548,382 | $590,604 |
| FY2022 | 7,318 | $4,308,159,663 | $588,707 |
| FY2023 | 7,510 | $4,543,647,745 | $605,013 |
| FY2024 | 7,729 | $4,824,245,476 | $624,175 |
| FY2025 | 7,091 | $4,861,721,441 | $685,619 |
| FY2026 | 2,938 | $1,908,416,622 | $649,563 |
Open the full interactive trends view for Aging and longevity →
Top NIH Institutes (last 90 days)
Which NIH institutes funded the most Aging projects in the most recent 90-day window.
| Institute | Awards (90d) | Funding (90d) |
|---|---|---|
| NIH | 493 | $346,292,814 |
| VA | 7 | $0 |
Common Activity Codes (last 90 days)
Which grant mechanisms (R01, R21, U01, P30, etc.) appeared most often for Aging in the recent period.
Most Active Institutions (last 90 days)
Universities and research organizations with the most Aging awards in the most recent 90-day window.
- UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA, SAN FRANCISCO — 14 awards
- COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES — 13 awards
- WASHINGTON UNIVERSITY — 12 awards
- JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY — 11 awards
- MAYO CLINIC ROCHESTER — 11 awards
- NORTHWESTERN UNIVERSITY — 10 awards
- YALE UNIVERSITY — 9 awards
- DUKE UNIVERSITY — 9 awards
Recently Awarded Aging and longevity Grants
Twelve most recent awards mentioning Aging, drawn from NIH RePORTER. Click through to Find PIs for the full investigator search.
The Hypothalamic Basis of Aging
5R01AG031774-16Dongsheng Cai · ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, NY · $565,177 · awarded Jun 5, 2026 · R01ABSTRACT/SUMMARY Aging is multifaceted while many hormonal and metabolic regulators are crucial, pointing to the extremely strong significance of endocrine and metabolic processes in aging physiology and intervention. The hypothalamus is the “headquarters” for regulating systemic endocrine systems and metabolic physiology as well as the autonomic nervous…
Entrepreneurship & Science Communication for Aging and Aging-related Research (ESCAAR) Program for Doctoral Students and Postdoctoral Scholars
5R25AG088402-02Isabell May · UNIVERSITY OF MARYLAND BALTIMORE, MD · $262,873 · awarded Jun 5, 2026 · R25The 2018 STEM (science, technology, engineering, and mathematics) graduate education report identified entrepreneurship and science communication as key skills for interdisciplinary teamwork in academia and beyond. Integrating entrepreneurship into STEM fields fosters innovation and helps students understand the broader economic and social impacts of their…
Metabolic determinants of reactive astrogliosis and cognitive heterogeneity in aging
5R01AG085398-03Sreemathi Logan · UNIVERSITY OF OKLAHOMA HLTH SCIENCES CTR, OK · $443,080 · awarded Jun 5, 2026 · R01ABSTRACT The greatest risk factor for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias (ADRD) is aging, but the mechanisms that link aging to ADRD disease processes are largely unknown. Of particular interest, recent single-cell transcriptomic studies of aged hippocampal astrocytes, and multi-transcriptomic analysis of astrocytes from human AD samples and a mouse…
CRCNS: Repurposing Transformers to Characterize Gut Microbiome & Aging Brain Axis
5R01AG092220-03Vikas Singh · UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN-MADISON, WI · $369,360 · awarded Jun 5, 2026 · R01For debilitating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease (AD), some drugs have been approved but only offer a modest attenuation of cognitive decline. There is a need to better understand the role of modifiable risk factors which could decrease the risk of AD and other types of dementia. The human gut microbiome–comprising of microbes and…
Vaginal estradiol versus moisturizer to improve postmenopausal vaginal aging symptoms, dysbiosis and markers of HIV latency reversal in menopausal women living with HIV
1R01AG102277-01Kerry Murphy · ALBERT EINSTEIN COLLEGE OF MEDICINE, NY · $706,734 · awarded Jun 5, 2026 · R01Women with HIV (WWH) are living longer and experiencing menopause, which often occurs earlier than in women without HIV (HIV-), reflecting an accelerated aging phenotype. The genitourinary syndrome of menopause (GSM) affects approximately 50% of menopausal women but fewer than 25% receive treatment. This is particularly concerning for WWH as untreated GSM…
Investigating age-dependent factors in the development and treatment of adrenal cancer
1R01CA308007-01A1Kaitlin Basham · UTAH STATE HIGHER EDUCATION SYSTEM--UNIVERSITY OF UTAH, UT · $581,686 · awarded Jun 5, 2026 · R01PROJECT SUMMARY Aging is the strongest risk factor for cancer, yet the mechanisms linking aging to tumor development remain poorly defined. Our work focuses on adrenocortical carcinoma (ACC), a rare but aggressive cancer with peak incidence after age 50 and limited treatment options. We developed the first ACC mouse model that mirrors the age dependence of…
Mechanisms underlying edible exosome-like nanoparticles for prevention of brain inflammation
5R01AT008617-10HUANG-GE ZHANG · UNIVERSITY OF LOUISVILLE, KY · $641,680 · awarded Jun 5, 2026 · R01Brain chronic inflammation is a hallmark of the aging process, and promotes the progression of many brain diseases. Compelling evidence shows that healthy edible plants have important physiological roles for normal brain function and can prevent neuroinflammatory processes. However, mechanistic studies in the brain have primarily focused on single or…
Longitudinal impact of midlife cerebrovascular pulsatility on brain tissue integrity and cognitive aging
5R01AG080052-03Christopher Martens · UNIVERSITY OF DELAWARE, DE · $768,457 · awarded Jun 4, 2026 · R01PROJECT SUMMARY Normal aging is associated with a gradual decline in cognitive abilities across the lifespan, which is accelerated by midlife vascular risk factors, including stiffening of the large elastic arteries. The purpose of this project is to determine whether arterial stiffness is an early contributor to cognitive aging through the transmission of…
Development of novel epigenetic biomarkers and detection reagents for aging
5R44AG091990-02Sabrina Hunt · EPICYPHER, INC., NC · $1,249,682 · awarded Jun 3, 2026 · R44SUMMARY Aging, Alzheimer’s disease, and related dementias (AD/ADRD) are associated with a deterioration of chromatin structure. This deterioration is caused in part by dysregulation of histone post-translation modifications (hPTMs), which play driving roles in regulating chromatin structure and function. Restoration of healthy chromatin structure through…
The MyGoals for Healthy Aging Multi-Center Randomized Controlled Trial
3R01AG073402-05S1Daniel Belsky · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES, NY · $69,351 · awarded Jun 3, 2026 · R01Poverty is associated with harsh living conditions, few opportunities to exercise, and poor access to healthy food that collectively produce “wear and tear” on organ systems. Psychological stress increases the fragility of neurons in the central nervous system, potentially producing both the loss of function and volume in areas of the brain that are…
Revolutionary Environmental Metalloproteomics for Aging Science and Prevention
1R35ES037866-01Ana Navas-Acien · COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY HEALTH SCIENCES, NY · $942,408 · awarded Jun 3, 2026 · R35Summary The proposed R35 program will advance metalloproteomics research and applications to better understand the role of metals in aging and brain health, aiming to address the limited tools available for assessing metal- protein interactions in age-related diseases, in particular dementia and cognitive impairment. Around 40% of human proteins rely on…
Transposable Element (TE) RNA regulation via small RNA pathways in aging cells and neurodegeneration.
5R01AG078930-05NELSON LAU · BOSTON UNIVERSITY MEDICAL CAMPUS, MA · $683,102 · awarded Jun 3, 2026 · R01Project Summary/Abstract Transposable elements (TEs) are prolific genetic parasites infiltrating >45% of the human genome and are major proportions of all animal genomes. TE activation during aging and disease affects the transcriptomes of neurons and alter animal activity. This hypothesis is attractive because all animal genomes harbor a major reservoir of…
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