The Healthy Longevity Global Grand Challenge
Lives of good health, function, meaning, purpose, and dignity are achievable—now is the time to seize this opportunity and begin working toward a better future for all.
Applications Open
2025 US NAM Catalyst Award Competition
The Catalyst Awards—part of the broader Healthy Longevity Global Competition—is currently seeking bold, new, and innovative ideas that aim to extend the human healthspan (i.e., the number of years lived in good health), especially approaches that challenge existing paradigms or propose new methodologies or concepts. High-risk ideas that could potentially yield high rewards and, in turn, dramatically change the field of healthy longevity are encouraged.
About the Program
The Healthy Longevity Global Grand Challenge, founded by the National Academy of Medicine, is a worldwide movement to improve physical, mental, and social well-being for people as they age. The initiative aims to:
01
Comprehensively address the challenges and opportunities presented by global population aging;
02
Catalyze breakthrough ideas and research that will extend the human healthspan;
03
Generate transformative and scalable innovations worldwide; and
04
Build a broad ecosystem of support by enabling scientists, engineers, innovators, entrepreneurs, health leaders, policy makers, and the public to work together to achieve the promise of healthy longevity.
Why Healthy Longevity Matters
The world’s population is aging. In recent decades, the population of people over age 65 has grown more quickly than other age groups due to longer life spans and declining birth rates, with growth expected to continue. The threat that demographic change may create new challenges is real, but it is not inevitable. The future of aging societies could be optimistic and will require an all-of-society effort to develop and implement plans needed to enable healthy longevity for all.
At the current pace, population aging is poised to impose a significant strain on economies, health systems, and social structures worldwide. But it doesn’t have to.
We can envision, just on the horizon, an explosion of potential new medicines, treatments, technologies, and preventive and social strategies that could help transform the way we age and ensure better health, function, and productivity during a period of extended longevity. Multidisciplinary solutions are urgently needed to maximize the number of years lived in good health and a state of well-being. Now is the time to support the next breakthroughs in healthy longevity, so that all of us can benefit from the tremendous opportunities it has to offer.
Part I
Global Roadmap for Healthy Longevity
The Global Roadmap for Healthy Longevity assembled an independent International Commission to author an evidence-based report with recommendations for societies worldwide to foster healthy longevity by through strategies related to the social and behavioral enablers of health, health care and public health systems, and science and technology. The Commission’s final report was released in June 2022.
Part II
Healthy Longevity Global Competition
The Healthy Longevity Global Competition is a multiyear, multi-million-dollar international competition that will accelerate breakthroughs in healthy longevity through a series of monetary awards and prizes. The competition is open to innovators of any background, including science, medicine, public health, technology, entrepreneurship, public policy, social engineering, and beyond. The competition launched in October 2019.
Important Definitions
These are guiding definitions that characterize our work, not official definitions of the NAM.
Healthy Longevity
The state in which years in good health approach the biological life span, with physical, cognitive, and social functioning — enabling well-being across populations
Equity
The absence of barriers, biases and obstacles that impede equal access, fair treatment, and opportunity for contribution by all members of a community
Ageism
Discrimination against individuals because of their age, often based on stereotypes. Often used to describe discrimination against seniors, also used in regard to prejudice and discrimination against adolescents, children, and other age groups.
Staff
Contact Information
Want to get involved?
To learn more about the NAM’s Healthy Longevity Global Grand Challenge, contact the program at [email protected]. You can also join our mailing list for program updates.
