The promise of geroscience is that we may, in our lifetimes, be able to slow or reverse the major causes of disease and death in the United States. The overall goal of the National Geroscience Initiative  is to gain five additional years of healthy, independent life (as measured by Healthy Life Expectancy (HLE)) data for citizens of the United States by 2050 and significantly narrow healthspan disparities between disadvantaged and vulnerable groups and the general population.
 
If the initiative achieves this overall objective, the impact is considerable. The ability to push back, by five years, the onset of age-related dementia alone, has been projected to translate into medical cost savings of $410 billion per year by 2050. If the initiative were to achieve comparable delays in onset for all the major diseases of aging simultaneously, the return on investment, in terms of ­the reduction of medical costs alone, would be many times higher.
 
To reach that goal scientific investment must be melded with an innovation ecosystem that includes: government and regulatory agencies, academic institutions, the commercial market; biotech and healthcare companies; venture capital and philanthropy. All these stakeholders should contribute to program planning from the outset.
 
If political and civil leadership recognize the promise of geroscience and can design and implement an effective program to rapidly advance the field, the relatively near-term impact on healthcare quality and cost, as well as the general wellbeing of our aging population, will be profound and lasting.