In a groundbreaking advance that promises to reshape our understanding of aging within populations, researchers at Columbia University’s Mailman School of Public Health have unveiled a refined methodology to measure the “Pace of Aging.” This innovative approach offers unparalleled precision in quantifying the rate at which individuals age biologically, distinguishing it from prior metrics confounded by early-life influences. Published recently in the prestigious journal Nature Aging, this work heralds a new era in population health research, creating pathways for tailored interventions in public health policy aimed at prolonging healthspan and lifespan across diverse communities.
Conventional assessments of aging have long struggled with a critical limitation: conflating early developmental factors—such as prenatal nutrition and childhood conditions—with actual biological aging processes. The new Pace of Aging method elegantly disentangles these confounding effects, providing a clearer window into the dynamic physiological changes that accumulate throughout adulthood and into later life. This advancement addresses a central dilemma in gerontology, enabling researchers to parse lifelong biological trajectories from the shadows of early environmental imprints.
Dr. Arun Balachandran, the study’s lead author and a postdoctoral researcher at the Columbia Aging Center, explains that the team’s revamped approach not only sharpens scientific insight but also substantially elevates public health utility. Unlike earlier models focused primarily on biomedical interventions, the recalibrated Pace of Aging framework is uniquely designed to evaluate the longitudinal impact of social policies and population-wide public health measures. Dr. Daniel Belsky, associate professor of Epidemiology and a key collaborator on the project, underscores this innovative pivot, emphasizing the method’s capacity to reveal how social determinants, environments, and individual lifestyle choices sculpt aging trajectories at scale.
The research draws on rich, high-fidelity data from two major longitudinal cohorts: the U.S. Health and Retirement Study (HRS) and the English Longitudinal Study of Aging (ELSA). These datasets encompass tens of thousands of adults aged 50 and above, enabling the researchers to capture comprehensive biological and functional markers collected via in-home assessments over multiple timepoints spanning a decade. By incorporating biomarkers such as C-reactive protein, Cystatin-C, and glycated hemoglobin alongside physiological measures including diastolic blood pressure, waist circumference, lung function, grip strength, gait speed, and balance, the Pace of Aging metric paints a multidimensional portrait of aging dynamics.
The analytical framework leverages data from dried blood spots coupled with physical and performance tests, repeated over an average eight-year follow-up. This longitudinal design permits the calculation of individualized aging velocities, precisely differentiating fast agers from slow agers within populations that are conventionally regarded as homogenous by chronological age. Notably, the study’s 19,045 participants were tracked through 2016 with extended health outcome surveillance through 2022, allowing robust linkage between biological aging pace and eventual incidence of morbidity, disability, and mortality.
Findings demonstrate that the newly calibrated Pace of Aging score exhibits strong predictive validity, consistently forecasting the onset of chronic diseases, cognitive decline, and early death, above and beyond chronological age. This predictive power opens novel avenues for early identification of at-risk subgroups, potentially guiding timely preventive interventions. Intriguingly, the research highlights pronounced disparities in aging rates within demographic strata. For example, individuals with lower educational attainment exhibited accelerated biological aging, illuminating a critical nexus between socioeconomic factors and healthspan trajectories.
Originally formulated using longitudinal data from the Dunedin Study—a birth cohort followed from young adulthood into midlife—the Pace of Aging tool’s newly expanded applicability now transcends individual cohorts to embrace population-based studies. This adaptability extends the framework’s relevance not only to biomedical researchers but also to policymakers charged with crafting social programs that influence aging outcomes at the population level. The capacity to monitor aging pace in real-world contexts marks a crucial leap toward evidence-based healthspan extension strategies.
Beyond the biomedical domain, this research intersects meaningfully with sociology and economics by elucidating how major life events and transitions—including retirement, caregiving responsibilities, and bereavement—interface with biological aging processes. This cross-disciplinary insight equips policymakers with metrics attuned to the social complexity underpinning aging, enhancing the precision of interventions aimed at improving quality of life and reducing health disparities among older adults.
Dr. Belsky emphasizes that the differences uncovered by this approach are not mere statistical artifacts but meaningful divergences with tangible health consequences. People identified as aging faster biologically were substantially more prone to developing disease and disability, and experienced earlier mortality despite sharing the same chronological age as their slower-aging peers. This distinction underscores the profound limitations of chronological age as a proxy and the necessity of incorporating biological aging metrics in health assessments.
The collaborative nature of this study—encompassing experts across institutions including Columbia University, University of London, Stanford University, the National Institute on Aging, and the Norwegian Institute for Public Health—reflects the complexity and breadth of expertise required to pioneer such an encompassing approach. These partnerships highlight a global commitment to advancing aging research that translates seamlessly from theoretical biology to practical public health solutions.
Financial backing from prestigious funders like the National Institutes of Health, the Russell Sage Foundation, and the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center underscores the significance of this work within the scientific and health policy communities. With strong institutional support, the Pace of Aging method is positioned to become a core tool in aging research and an essential basis for guiding future health interventions that foster longer, healthier lives.
The Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, the home institution behind this breakthrough, boasts nearly a century of leadership in population health research and education. Their multidisciplinary faculty’s commitment to addressing complex health challenges around the globe infuses this work with robust scientific rigor and a vision for impactful public health reform. By harnessing their expertise and global reach, the Pace of Aging method is primed to influence how societies worldwide understand and manage the aging process.
In sum, the development of this refined Pace of Aging measure represents a landmark achievement in aging science. By separating the influences of early life from ongoing biological change and validating a predictive link to critical health outcomes, this research equips scientists, clinicians, and policymakers with a powerful new lens. This methodological innovation has the potential not only to transform population health surveillance but also to drive the development of pioneering interventions that can slow aging, reduce health inequities, and ultimately extend the healthy years of life for millions across the globe.
Subject of Research: Biological and population-level measurement of aging processes; development and validation of a novel Pace of Aging metric.
Article Title: Pace of Aging analysis of healthspan and lifespan in older adults in the US and UK
News Publication Date: May 27, 2025
Web References:
https://www.nature.com/articles/s43587-025-00866-6
References:
Belsky, D. W., Balachandran, A., Pei, H., Shi, Y., Beard, J., Cohen, A., Eckstein Indik, C., Ryan, C., Furuya, A., Kothari, M., Zhang, Y., Caspi, A., Moffitt, T., Domingue, B., Ferrucci, L., Skirbekk, V. (2025). Pace of Aging analysis of healthspan and lifespan in older adults in the US and UK. Nature Aging. DOI:10.1038/s43587-025-00866-6
Keywords: Health and medicine, aging, biological aging, public health, longitudinal studies, biomarkers, population health, healthspan, lifespan, social determinants of health
