Company
SENS Research Foundation
Last updated 2026-05-30· 1 min read
Reviewed by the Ultimate Longevity Bible editorial team. Educational reference — not medical advice. See disclaimer.
What it is
SENS Research Foundation (SRF) is a US 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 2009 by Aubrey de Grey and Michael Kope to fund and conduct research on the SENS damage-repair framework — an engineering-style approach to aging that categorises age-related damage into seven types and proposes specific repair strategies for each.
What it has funded
- Foundational work on cyclodextrin-based 7-ketocholesterol clearance that became Cyclarity Therapeutics.
- Allotopic expression research (moving mtDNA-encoded genes to the nucleus).
- Mitochondrial repair programmes.
- Cross-link breaker discovery (precursors to alagebrium-style drugs).
- Catabodies for clearing extracellular junk.
- Several academic-affiliated programmes that have spun out as independent biotechs.
Organisational history
de Grey departed SRF in 2021 amid internal controversy; he later founded the Longevity Escape Velocity (LEV) Foundation, which now pursues a similar but distinct research agenda. SRF continues operating under new leadership.
Influence
The SENS framework — treating aging as repairable damage rather than an undruggable inevitability — predates and partly seeded the modern longevity-biotech industry. Many specific programmes at Altos, Cyclarity, and elsewhere can be traced to SENS-funded work.
- Ending Aging — Aubrey de Grey (2007) — Book.
- Ending Aging (Aubrey de Grey) — Book.
- Hevolution Foundation — Company.
- Longevity Escape Velocity — Concept.