Eric J. Lenze, MD, the Wallace and Lucille K. Renard Professor and head of the Department of Psychiatry at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, and his team are among the Top 40 Milestone 1 award winners in XPRIZE Healthspan. This seven-year, global competition incentivizes teams to develop and test therapeutics to improve healthy aging and close the gap between humans’ lifespan and healthspan — the number of years a person is generally healthy and enjoys a high quality of life in terms of their physical and mental well-being.
From more than 600 registered teams across 58 countries, 40 teams were recognized as the top semifinalists. These teams presented a therapeutic approach that could feasibly stave off age-related physical, cognitive or immune-system decline by at least 10 years, “with an ambitious goal of 20 years,” according to XPRIZE’s description of the competition.
The top 40 semifinalists, including Lenze’s team, will receive $250,000 each to help support them through the next phase of the competition — early-stage clinical trials. Lenze’s trial will test a personalized intervention with three components: fortify healthy behaviors including diet, exercise and optimal sleep; optimize medical therapies with personalized management of health conditions; and enhance cognitive function with medication and training. This early trial will focus on short-term outcomes in preparation for a longer trial.
Based on the results of the semifinal trials, XPRIZE in 2026 will announce 10 finalists to receive a second, $10 million prize. If selected, Lenze’s team will test their therapeutic solution in a larger clinical trial, with a goal of claiming the competition’s grand prize — up to $81 million — if successful in achieving the goal of reversing aging-related declines by 20 years.
