Hevolution Foundation Announces Multi-Million Dollar Research Grants at Global Healthspan Summit and Convenes Changemakers to Tackle World’s Aging Crisis
Riyadh, November 30, 2023, SPA -- Hevolution Foundation demonstrated its commitment to driving breakthrough aging science with further announcements of catalytic funding initiatives at the inaugural Global Healthspan Summit in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.
In its role as a global catalyst, collaborator, and convener on a mission to extend healthy human lifespan, Hevolution is enabling specialized research and development in healthspan science and innovative therapeutics. To further drive scientific research in healthspan, Hevolution announced $40 million (SAR150 million), including:
$21 million (SAR79 million) for a novel multi-year partnership with the Buck Institute for Research on Aging to accelerate discoveries toward therapeutic interventions specifically targeting aging.
$16 million (SAR60 million) to expand the New Investigator Awards program in Aging Biology and Geroscience to support early-career researchers through the American Federation of Aging Research. First launched in 2022, recipients of these awards are working to deepen knowledge of aging biology to promote healthier aging.
$5 million (SAR18 million) to support up to 15 postdoctoral fellowships to advance the careers of early-stage scientists in Saudi Arabia and the Gulf region in the fields of aging biology and geroscience.
These initiatives follow Hevolution’s announcement of a $40 million (SAR150 million) anchor contribution to the largest XPRIZE in history and $10 million (SAR37.5 million) for the launch of a novel Breakthrough Innovation Alliance.
Hevolution Foundation CEO Dr. Mehmood Khan said: “Helping fast track and support impactful healthspan science programs is a founding principle for us. Through collaborative partnerships, we are catalyzing the incredible potential in the aging biology field and paving the way for new solutions to improve healthspan for all.”
The Summit – the largest international gathering of its kind – brought together over 120 distinguished speakers and nearly 2000 delegates to participate in action-oriented conversations designed to foster a healthier aging future.
Passion for innovation to revolutionize a healthier aging future was a recurring theme throughout the event. Distinguished speakers from across industries and sectors explored topics including complex healthspan science, societal and ethical considerations in aging research, women and healthspan, new technologies such as AI, and necessary shifts required to support research and development for aging therapeutics.
Hevolution Foundation Vice President of Organizational Strategy and Development, Dr. Haya Khaled Al Saud added: “As a Saudi scientist, I am enormously proud of how the Global Healthspan Summit has brought such diversity of thinking together in the Kingdom. It has forged new channels and connections that will shape and catalyze the healthspan sector for the benefit of all. This is a launchpad for a stronger, more engaged, and action-oriented global collaboration that will encourage the world’s best minds to work together to solve the universal challenge of unhealthy aging.”
The Global Healthspan Summit comes at a pivotal time as the world is undergoing a rapid population shift. By 2050, the global population over 60 years old is set to double to 2 billion people. Moreover, two-thirds of people over 60 will live in low- and middle-income countries. Global collaboration in healthspan is no longer an option; it has become a health and socioeconomic imperative. Opportunities for experts to come together across disciplines and geographies, such as at the Global Healthspan Summit, are essential for meeting the universal challenge of unhealthy aging.
Founded on the belief that every person has the right to live a longer, healthier life, Hevolution Foundation is a global catalyst, partner, and convener on a mission to drive efforts to extend healthy human lifespan and understand the processes of aging. With a focus on aging as a treatable process, Hevolution Foundation aims to increase the number of aging-related treatments on the market, compress the timeline of drug development, and increase accessibility to therapeutics that extend healthy lifespan, also known as healthspan.
--SPA
