A new scientific journal devoted entirely to the biology, medicine and societal dimensions of aging has opened its pages. Discover Aging, published as Volume 1, article number 1 on 19 February 2026, is the newest member of the fully open access Discover series, and its founding editorial makes an ambitious claim: that aging is the greatest risk factor for the world’s most prevalent diseases and a defining demographic trend of our century. The journal’s stated mission is to serve as a comprehensive resource for researchers, clinicians, policymakers and the public by publishing aging studies of the highest integrity, and its launch arrives at a moment when the demographic arithmetic of the planet is shifting decisively toward older populations.
The editorial, written by Karen Crasta, Lin Deng, Yash Chhabra, Gina Liu and Selwin K. Wu, frames the journal’s rationale in explicitly multidisciplinary terms. Across the literature, the authors note, aging affects us at every scale, from cellular and molecular changes to systemic and societal impacts. At its core, they write, aging is a consequence of biological mechanisms that went awry, including genomic instability, epigenetic alterations, uncontrolled increase of reactive oxygen species, and the trigger of cellular senescence, processes that collectively drive disease progression.
But the editors are careful to insist that aging is more than biology. Understanding biomedical mechanisms is essential, they argue, yet equally critical is translating this knowledge into clinical interventions, public health strategies and technologies that extend healthspan, thereby preserving the dignity and independence of the elderly. The distinction between lifespan and healthspan runs through the entire editorial. With global life expectancy rising and aging populations expanding, the urgency to develop strategies for a longer healthspan has never been greater, the authors write, a formulation that implicitly acknowledges the gap between adding years to life and adding healthy, functional years to it.
The editorial points to aging societies including Singapore, Japan, China and South Korea, among others, as examples of the demographic shift. As societies age, including Singapore, Japan, China and South Korea, among others, the editors write, we must ensure that longevity is accompanied by quality of life, mental well-being and social participation. Karen Crasta is a Principal Investigator and Assistant Professor at the National University of Singapore, in the Department of Physiology and the Healthy Longevity Translational Research Program, where she leads the Genomic Instability and Stress Response Lab at the NUHS Centre for Healthy Longevity. Lin Deng is a Principal Investigator at the Shenzhen Bay Laboratory in China. The editorial board more broadly, the editors say, draws members from institutions including Columbia University, University College London, Shenzhen Bay Laboratory, National University of Singapore and Fox Chase Cancer Centre, reflecting an interdisciplinary scope across biology, medicine, psychology and public health.
The scientific pedigrees of the founding editors signal where the journal’s biological center of gravity lies. Crasta, who earned her PhD at A*STAR’s Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology after undergraduate training at the National University of Singapore, completed postdoctoral work at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where she found a mechanistic link between mitotic errors and chromosomal breaks via micronuclei. Her laboratory’s published work has elucidated the role of micronuclei in linking mitotic errors to DNA damage, how chromosomal instability elicits cellular senescence, and the role of extracellular vesicles as part of the senescence-associated secretory phenotype, with current interests extending to systemic aging and the impact of lifestyle factors such as habitual exercise. She began her research group at the Centre for Healthy Longevity in 2021 and is a recipient of the National Research Foundation Fellowship, the A*STAR International Fellowship and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Associate Fellowship.
Deng’s research program complements that cellular focus from the direction of genome maintenance. He obtained his PhD in Biochemistry from Dartmouth College, where his work dissected the signalling pathways for the G2/M transition of the cell cycle, and trained as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute under David Pellman and Johannes Walter, revealing novel mechanisms of genome instability induced by DNA replication stress and cell cycle defects. His laboratory at Shenzhen Bay Laboratory combines high-content live-cell imaging, in vitro biochemical reconstitution, ultra-high throughput drug screening and genome engineering and sequencing to address how cells coordinate growth and division under normal and pathological conditions such as cancer and aging. His work has appeared in journals including Molecular Cell and Current Biology.
The third named section editor, Yash Chhabra, extends the journal’s reach into cancer biology and the tumor microenvironment. An Assistant Professor in the Cancer Signalling and Microenvironment Program at Fox Chase Cancer Center, Chhabra received his PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from the University of Queensland and trained in melanoma biology and tumor microenvironment research at the University of Queensland and Johns Hopkins University. His research examines how host biology shapes cancer progression and therapeutic response, with a particular emphasis on how aging and biological sex influence cancer behavior. Using integrative in vivo models, multi-omics, advanced imaging and immunological profiling, his group aims to identify host-driven mechanisms regulating tumor growth, metastatic dissemination, dormancy and therapy resistance. The editorial credits him with helping establish aging and sex as fundamental biological variables in cancer research, and lists honors including the Boomerang Award at Lorne Cancer 2023 and selection as an American Association for Cancer Research NextGen Star in 2025.
The journal’s declared scope is unusually broad, spanning fundamental biology to translational advancements and societal impact. Under biological mechanisms of aging, the listed topics include comparative and evolutionary biology of aging; genetics, epigenetics and multi-omics approaches; hallmarks of aging, senescence and the senescence-associated secretory phenotype; mechanobiology, hypoxia, centrosome amplification and cell extrusion; metabolism, mitochondrial biology and proteostasis; molecular, cellular and tissue-level processes; and stem cells, rejuvenation and repair. A systems and technologies section covers artificial intelligence and digital biomarkers, bioinformatics, systems biology and big data, and new techniques, resources and platforms for aging research. The translational and clinical section lists age-related diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease, diabetes, obesity, COPD, dementia, osteoporosis and arthritis, alongside clinical trials, individual patient studies, academic-industry collaborations, frailty, sarcopenia and sensory decline, geroscience and biomarkers of aging, meta-analyses and population-level studies, and nutrition, lifestyle and interventions for healthy aging.
Geriatric medicine and care forms its own section, covering functional decline, atypical presentations and mental health; integrated care and healthcare delivery for older adults; and multimorbidity, polypharmacy and geriatric syndromes. Immunology and inflammation is another, encompassing immunosenescence, inflammaging and SASP-driven inflammation, as well as vaccines and immune interventions in aging populations. A final section addresses the social and global aspects of aging: demography, public health, health economics and policy; gerontology, psychology and sociology of aging; resilience, successful aging and quality of life; and social isolation, loneliness and elder care. Notably, the editors state that the journal particularly welcomes work addressing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, especially No Poverty, Gender Equality, Good Health and Well-being, Quality Education and Zero Hunger, an explicit signal that the journal views aging as a development issue as much as a biomedical one.
On the operational side, Discover Aging will accept a wide range of article types, from Research Articles, Brief Reports, Case Reports, Case Studies and Clinical Trials to Comments, Data Notes, Methodologies, Perspectives, Registered Reports and Reviews. The journal will also publish guest-edited topical collections exploring cross-journal research themes in aging, in collaboration with other Discover journals such as Discover Life and Discover Immunity. The editors extend what they call a warm invitation to leading researchers passionate about advancing research integrity and shaping the future of aging research to join the editorial board, and they close with a collective ambition: by bringing together work from researchers, clinicians, policymakers and innovators, the field can redefine aging and shape a future where longer lives are healthier, equitable and fulfilling. Whether a new journal can help deliver on that promise will depend on the science it attracts, but its founding editorial makes clear that it intends to judge aging research not only by its molecular depth but by its reach into clinics, policy and daily life.
Subject of Research: The launch of Discover Aging, a new multidisciplinary open access journal dedicated to research on aging and healthspan
Article Title: Discover Aging: a new multidisciplinary research forum for understanding and improving healthspan
Article References: Crasta, K., Deng, L., Chhabra, Y., Liu, G., & Wu, S. K. (2026). Discover Aging: a new multidisciplinary research forum for understanding and improving healthspan. Discover Aging, 1(1), Article 1. https://doi.org/10.1007/s44518-026-00002-5
Image Credits: AI Generated
DOI: 10.1007/s44518-026-00002-5
Keywords: Discover Aging, aging, healthspan, open access, geroscience, senescence, longevity, editorial board, topical collections, geriatric medicine, demographic aging, Springer Nature
News Source: Beatrice Stafford. (October 29, 2026). New Open Access Journal Launches to Tackle Aging as a Global Challenge. Scienmag.
