We’ve officially hit a milestone: the Alliance is 40 years strong! The big 4-0. And we’re celebrating wholeheartedly. Because in our world, the turning of a new decade signifies more opportunities to learn, connect, and serve others.
In 1986, the Alliance for Aging Research was founded by Daniel Perry (now a cherished Board Member) with a clear and ambitious purpose: accelerating the pace of scientific discoveries and their application to vastly improve the universal human experience of aging and health. In earlier years, the Alliance led efforts to substantially increase funding and focus for aging at the National Institutes of Health and Food and Drug Administration; built influential coalitions to guide groundbreaking regulatory improvements for age-related diseases; and created award-winning, high-impact educational materials to improve the health and well-being of older adults and their family caregivers. What began as a forward-thinking idea about promoting longevity has grown into a trusted leading organization at the intersection of science, policy, and advocacy.
Four decades later, we are grounded in these founding principles and have expanded our scope. In 2024, we updated our mission to serve as “the leading nonprofit organization dedicated to changing the narrative to achieve healthy aging and equitable access to care.”
We say we’re small but mighty. That means we must work efficiently to have an impact. One of the main ways we do that is by leveraging our award-winning educational materials and policy issues with the press. This past year, we worked with partners to fight against cuts to Medicaid, SNAP, and federal health agencies. Our work contributed to saving the Administration on Community Living, which funds services for millions of older adults and people with disabilities each year.
We had at least 100 press hits last year, several in top tier news outlets on vaccines, IRA and needed fixes, Alzheimer’s and neuropsychiatric symptoms, cuts to Medicaid and SNAP, and IP, MFN, and Tariff issues. We try to maximize our social media and our podcast—This Is Growing Old — which was called out by The Wall Street Journal late in 2024 as a best podcast about aging.
Education and public engagement have also been central to our work. The Alliance creates evidence-based information for older patients and family caregivers to help them make informed, independent choices that lend to self-advocacy and improved health outcomes. Initiatives such as Heart Valve Disease Awareness Day, Our Best Shot, Talk NERDY, and Project LOOP reflect the Alliance’s commitment to addressing real-world, older adult patient experiences—in promoting earlier chronic disease detection, preserving vaccine access, broadening older patient research engagement, and improving affordability and access to care.
As we mark this milestone anniversary, we do so with deep gratitude and renewed purpose.
We are fortunate to partner in our health education and policy work on every issue we work on. To all of you: For the many times we reach out—thank you. And thank you for reaching back to partner with us. That is trust in action and we cherish it.
We are also grateful and proud to partner with health care companies in pharma, bio, and device, and others in the public and private sectors of healthcare and healthy aging. Our four decades of progress would simply not be possible without the generosity of our many supporters.
It is a privilege to do this meaningful work, and as we welcome our 40th year, we do so with renewed purpose and enthusiasm to lean in more than ever before.
Thank you to all who have been part of our first 40 years. We plan to be here until our work is done – so no Over the Hill jokes for us. We invite you to join us throughout 2026 as we celebrate with a little pomp and a lot of 80s-themed fun.
