Lancaster Mayor R. Rex Parris has donated $10 million to USC to help launch a longevity research program aimed at extending life and delaying disease, university officials announced Monday.
The USC Parris Longevity Accelerator will bring together researchers in engineering, artificial intelligence, gerontology and medicine to study the biological roots of aging and develop early stage preventative treatments, USC officials said.
“Age-related diseases continue to cost our healthcare system trillions of dollars. Now is the time to act to not only help people live longer but also to improve their quality of life,” Mayor Parris said in a statement.
Parris co-founded ReParris, a regenerative medicine company focused on developing innovative small-molecule treatments aimed at preventing and managing age-related diseases.
The Accelerator’s first major research effort will leverage recent study data to identify aging subtypes and high-risk patient profiles, USC officials said.
“For far too long, we’ve thought about and approached age-related diseases at the point of crisis with expensive, late-stage interventions,” said Dr. Denis Evseenko, a USC professor who will lead the Accelerator program. “Our team already has a well-documented track record of successful translation of scientific breakthroughs into the early stage preventive therapeutics and clinical trials.”
Evseenko said the Accelerator aims to change the current approach by focusing on research that identifies the earliest signs of aging, uncovers why some individuals age more rapidly and creates targeted methods to prevent disease before it starts.