Original story: UT Health San Antonio Newsroom
Contact: Steven Lee, (210) 450-3823, lees22@uthscsa.edu
SAN ANTONIO (February 24, 2026)
Positioning The University of Texas at San Antonio as a national anchor for aging and longevity science, its Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies will receive up to $38 million in federal funding for the first nationwide clinical study in healthy longevity.
The Advanced Research Projects Agency for Health (ARPA-H), an agency of the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, announced the contract to the Barshop Institute at UT Health San Antonio, the academic health center of UT San Antonio, cementing its standing as the nation’s leading authority in longevity science. The first-of-its-kind study will evaluate the repurposing of FDA-approved medications to delay age-related health and functional decline in generally healthy middle-aged adults, ages 60 to 65.
The contract will support the Validation and Intervention Testing for Aging, Longevity and Healthspan (VITAL-H) trial, which is integrated into the ARPA-H Proactive Solutions for Prolonging Resilience (PROSPR) program. Specifically, the Barshop Institute will use the VITAL-H trial to study the medications rapamycin, dapagliflozin and semaglutide, which based on strong preclinical evidence, promising early human data and extensive post-marketing safety experience may positively affect age-related decline in quality of life and lifespan.
“PROSPR is designed to identify therapeutics that show the aging process is not an inevitable slide into disability,” said Andrew Brack, PhD, ARPA-H program manager and creator of the PROSPR program. “VITAL-H will help show whether we can preserve everyday abilities during a critical window of midlife aging.”
For the Barshop Institute, it is the culmination of decades of pioneering biomedical science, a national vote of confidence and a proven model to translate aging research into real-world clinical impact. And it is further evidence of UT San Antonio’s growing national research standing, providing a platform for the next decade of leadership in aging science.
“For decades, the Barshop Institute has helped define the biology of aging,” said Jennifer Sharpe Potter, PhD, MPH, senior executive vice president for research and innovation for UT San Antonio. “Today, that foundational science has matured into a national clinical research effort – led from San Antonio – that will shape the future of human health and longevity.”
Barshop Institute director Elena Volpi, MD, PhD, who along with her team of investigators are nationally recognized leaders in healthy longevity research, will head the new effort.
Story continues: