USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology

10/20/2026

Healthy aging isn’t just about your genes. The choices we make throughout life can matter, too.

HuffPost UK explores habits that may help support longevity, featuring insights from USC Leonard Davis Professor Valter Longo, an expert on nutrition, fasting and aging.

Longo’s research suggests that eating plenty of plant-based foods and fish while limiting red meat is associated with longevity, while our nutritional needs — including protein needs — can shift as we get older.

Read more: https://ow.ly/XSpN50ZTKB8

There are a few habits which “consistently stand out”, according to Dr William Hsu.

10/20/2026

In a recent episode of Beyond Longevity, USC Leonard Davis Assistant Professor Constanza Cortes joins host Daphna Stern to discuss how exercise may help preserve memory as we age. She also shares how her research could lead to treatments for people whose ability to exercise is limited by pain, illness or reduced mobility.
🎧 Listen to the podcast episode: https://open.spotify.com/episode/2cXghpG7yEMfaM8ZC689yB

Beyond Longevity · Episode

10/16/2026

Congratulations to USC President Beong-Soo Kim on his investiture! The USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology is proud to join the Trojan Family in celebrating this milestone and the beginning of a new chapter for USC. We look forward to advancing discovery, educating future leaders and building a healthier future for people of all ages. Fight On! ✌️

10/16/2026

10/15/2026

USC Leonard Davis School researchers, led by Associate Professor Andrei Irimia, have received a new federal grant from the National Institute on Aging to use artificial intelligence to forecast how different brain regions may change over time.

“The goal is not simply to tell someone how old their brain looks,” Irimia said. “We want to understand where it is aging unusually, how fast that change is happening and whether AI can help us anticipate what comes next.”

Read more:

New $3.8 million National Institute on Aging grant extends USC research program aimed at identifying harmful brain-aging trajectories before cognitive decline.

10/13/2026

Washington Post quoted Daniel Nation of USC Leonard Davis and Keck School of Medicine in an article analyzing study results that indicate that healthy aging could be another phase of brain development, bringing new strengths and weaknesses.

Nation stated, “There may be some cognitive benefits to older adults that come from cognitive changes we normally think of as purely negative.”

As we get older, the brain prioritizes wisdom over remembering details for good reason, according to researchers.

10/06/2026

Constanza Cortes, PhD, has been selected to receive the Women in AGE Scientific Achievement Award in recognition of her significant contributions to aging research.

“This recognition is especially meaningful because women remain severely understudied in exercise and aging research, a gap that directly relates to my laboratory’s work,” she said.

Read more:

Constanza Cortes, PhD, has been selected to receive the Women in AGE Scientific Achievement Award in recognition of her significant contributions to aging research.

10/06/2026

Could a five-day diet help support healthier aging?

The Telegraph explores the fasting-mimicking diet developed through research led by USC Leonard Davis Professor Valter Longo. His research examines how nutrition and fasting can affect aging and age-related disease — with the goal of helping people live not only longer, but healthier.

Learn more about the science behind the five-day approach: https://ow.ly/CK2g50ZTKEb

A longevity expert hoping to reach 120 follows this fasting regimen twice a year – and says it can ‘reset’ the body

09/09/2026

Thank you to everyone who attended and helped make GLAM 2026 a success! On Friday, September 4, geroscience trainees came together to share research, build connections and explore new ideas shaping the future of aging science.

08/31/2026

How old are you — biologically? 🧬

New USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology-led research is shedding light on what popular “epigenetic clocks” actually measure — and introducing new gene-expression tools that may better predict age-related disease and mortality.

“Aging isn’t just about the number of candles on your birthday cake — it’s also about what’s happening inside your cells,” says lead author T. Em Arpawong, research associate professor of gerontology at USC Leonard Davis.

The study found that different biological aging clocks capture distinct processes, including immune function, metabolism and cell communication. Researchers also developed transcriptomic aging gene scores (TAGS), which in several cases better predicted outcomes including frailty, heart disease, diabetes and mortality.

Read more: https://gero.usc.edu/2026/08/13/how-old-are-you-really-study-explains-what-makes-epigenetic-clocks-tick-debuts-new-prediction-tools/

USC-led research reveals what aspects of cellular function are measured by popular biological age assessments.