Key points from article :
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H) has launched an ambitious initiative called the PROactive Solutions for Prolonging Resilience (PROSPR) program, aiming to extend Americans' healthspan—the number of years people live in good health. The program seeks to address age-related diseases and functional declines by accelerating the development of therapies and technologies that enhance well-being while compressing frailty and disability into a shorter duration later in life.
A significant driver of this initiative is the growing ageing population, with adults aged 65 and older projected to make up 23% of the U.S. population by 2054. Without intervention, healthcare costs are expected to rise substantially due to the increased care needs of ageing individuals. Extending the healthspan of just 10% of the elderly population by a single year could save $29 billion annually in entitlement program costs and add $80 billion to the economy, highlighting both the health and economic benefits of addressing ageing-related challenges.
The PROSPR program represents a paradigm shift in ageing research, focusing on identifying early biochemical and physiological markers of ageing, creating advanced assessment tools, and developing therapeutics to delay the onset of age-related conditions. ARPA-H Director Renee Wegrzyn, Ph.D., emphasizes the program's holistic approach to addressing non-disease consequences of ageing, such as memory loss, muscle weakness, and hearing decline.
In collaboration with researchers, tech developers, and stakeholders from the public and private sectors, PROSPR aims to harness innovations like wearable technology, big data, and decentralized clinical trials. This initiative builds on ARPA-H's earlier project, the Personalized Analytics for Transforming Health Care (PATH), which has invested $52 million to study chronic disease risk factors, beginning with Type 2 Diabetes, using data from healthy adults aged 50 and older.
Together, PROSPR and PATH signify a bold new frontier in ageing science, striving to ensure that Americans not only live longer but also enjoy healthier, more vibrant lives.
