Our overall approach, as outlined in the flowchart below, is to use Longevity-Associated Variants (LAVs), gene-expression studies, and evidence from model organisms to identify Longevity-Associated Genes (LAGs). Mendelian Randomization (MR) analysis will evaluate the potential impact modulating LAG activity might have on longevity, and candidate Longevity-Associated Drugs (LADs) targeting LAGs will be identified. To learn more about specific projects, please click on the green icons below or click on individual projects in the navigation menu.
Collaboration and Open Access
To maximize shareability and reproducibility of the data analysis results generated by this project, most of its analysis routines will be implemented as R packages hosted on GitHub (e.g. longevityTools). At a later stage, suitable components will be contributed to the Bioconductor project. The main source of documentation for both users and developers are the vignettes and help files provided by the R packages. All analysis results can be fully reproduced by rerunning the commands given in the vignettes. Instead of regenerating result files from scratch, users will also be able to download them via URLs provided in the corresponding sections of the vignettes or directly from this site. While improving transparency for external users, the chosen analysis strategy greatly facilitates collaborations among the different teams and members of this project. Where appropriate, finalized summary results will be made accessible via web-based solutions in the future such as Shiny and ReportingTools.
Pilot studies
We organize annual in-person meetings for project members in Washington DC to discuss our analysis methods and translational strategies. Together with our Research Planning Committee, we will design pilot studies to test the feasibility of prioritized translational strategies and we will provide small funding opportunities for scientists to perform these pilot studies. Following each meeting, we will post information about our prioritized translational strategies and pilot studies on the Publications page of this website.