The Alliance for Longevity Initiatives is calling on Congress, and more particularly the House Committee on Appropriations and Senate Committee on Appropriations, to increase the budget of the National Institute on Aging - Division of Aging Biology to $1 billion by 2024.
Approximately 100,000 people die every day due to diseases related to aging, such as heart disease, cancer, stroke, and Alzheimer's disease. For much of human history, we have had to accept aging as an inevitable part of life, but recent advances in scientific understanding and technology have made it possible to treat aging medically. Leading scientists at academic institutions and biotech companies are working to understand the biological mechanisms of aging and how to manipulate them at the cellular and molecular level. Treating aging at its source can delay the onset of age-related diseases and help people live longer, healthier lives.
The US government has a moral and financial obligation to support the development of therapies that target aging, as doing so could lead to significant savings in medical expenses for the aging population and increased productivity. Investing in therapies that target cellular aging can also help to prevent future pandemics like COVID-19, which disproportionately affected the elderly. Increasing funding for the Division of Aging Biology, which is part of the National Institute on Aging, would have a ripple effect on other NIH sub-agencies, such as the National Cancer Institute and the NIA Neuroscience Division, and would be a more effective use of resources compared to increasing funding for these agencies individually.
Investing in the Division of Aging Biology, which is part of the National Institute on Aging (NIA), would be a more effective use of resources compared to increasing funding for other NIH sub-agencies such as the NIA Neuroscience Division or the National Cancer Institute. This is because the money spent on treating cellular aging could bring about advancements in all of these agencies. For example, funding for the development of drugs that target cellular aging (also known as geroscience therapeutics) could help in the fight against diseases such as Alzheimer's disease (NIA Neuroscience Division) and cancer (National Cancer Institute).

The Appropriations Committee should recognize the potential for the Division of Aging Biology to treat hundreds of diseases and save millions of lives each year, but this can only be achieved if the agency is properly funded. Congress has a responsibility to improve healthy lifespan, and failure to do so will result in more people suffering and dying prematurely from age-related diseases. It is important for action to be taken now.