Hevolution Foundation and Rosenkranz Foundation commit $5 Million each
Consumer products and medical procedures slowing the appearance of aging is big business, as well as wellness programs that teach individuals how to live healthier lives for a longer life span. However, a parallel course is now underway—which is the funding of research that focuses on the root cause of aging known as aging biology or biogerontology.
Impetus Grants, a nonprofit foundation dedicated to funding aging-related research, just announced another round of matching funding. Five million came from the Hevolution Foundation, a non-profit that provides grants and early-stage investments for research and entrepreneurship relating to health span science, that was fully matched by the Rosenkranz Foundation. The latter was founded by philanthropist Robert Rosenkranz, a Board member of the Buck Institute and an honorary Fellow of the Academy for Health and Lifespan Research.
“Following our matching funding for Impetus last year, we are very pleased to again work with the organization to fund cutting-edge health span-related research,” stated Hevolution Foundation’s CEO Dr. Mehmood Khan. “We were pleased with the depth and breadth of the research programs that were funded via that program,and are confident that this effort will be even more impactful.”
Founded in 2021, the origin of the idea for Impetus is attributed to Martin Borch Jensen, CSO of Gordian Biotechnology, Juan Benet, founder of Protocol Labs and inventor of FileCoin, James Fickel, angel investor and cryptocurrency expert, and Jed McCaleb, founder of Stellar. This is according to Lifespan.io, a crowdsourcing platform for funding those working on a cure for aging.
Impetus’ goal is to facilitate the funding of innovative ideas in the aging space that are not gaining the attention of traditional funders. Since its founding in 2021 it has deployed over $24 million into scientific research projects that includes clinical trials, biomarker research, and the development of novel tools and model organisms. Prior funding rounds yielded over a dozen published papers, some of which have been recognized as field breakthroughs.
“We hope these grants will lead to important discoveries and will accelerate the careers of some of our most brilliant scientists,” commented Mr. Rosenkranz. “We believe we are on the cusp of learning how human healthspans can be extended for a decade or more, and that succeeding will be perhaps the greatest contribution science can make to human flourishing.”
Some of the prominent researchers and scientists conducting anti-aging research include:
Dr. David Sinclair, a professor at Harvard Medical School and the author of the book “Lifespan: Why We Age—and Why We Don’t Have To.”
Dr. Cynthia Kenyon, a molecular biologist and biogerontologist, focusing on understanding the genetic factors that influence aging and longevity, previously affiliated with University of California, San Francisco, and Calico Labs, and
Dr. Brian Kennedy, The President and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging has researched the effects of sirtuins on lifespan.
Most aging related researchers reside in universities and research institutes, private foundations, National Institutes and Government agencies, biotechnology companies, pharmaceutical companies, and nonprofits.
A number of factors are contributing to the growth of the anti-aging research field that includes the world’s growing aging population, previous advances that have opened up avenues in this area, increased funding and interdisciplinary collaboration among disciplines such as biology, medicine, genetics, pharmacology, and informatics—fostering more innovative research.
Impetus Grants is at the forefront of a burgeoning field that is spread across companies, institutions, agencies, among others. Its staff and advisory members review applications that lead to deployment of the funding it has received, using an innovative approach that focuses on success and less concern about failure.
