What We Do

The Only Harvard Medical School Affiliate Solely Focused on Aging Research

Since 1966, the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research has challenged conventional wisdom to better understand how we age. The questions we ask - and the answers we uncover - directly impact standards of care and help seniors live more vital, meaningful lives.

The Marcus Institute is one of the largest gerontological research facilities in a clinical setting in the U.S. Our decades-long relationship with Harvard Medical School attracts expert teaching staff and outstanding research fellows. Our research portfolio increased 90% from 2010 to 2022 and ranks us in the top 10% of institutions funded by the National Institutes of Health.

Part of the Hebrew SeniorLife Network

Because the Marcus Institute operates within the Hebrew SeniorLife system, our researchers work in close proximity to more than 3,000 seniors each day, many of whom volunteer to participate in our studies, along with others from outside our system. Their needs, struggles, and challenges drive our work. Our results are used to develop services, programs, and best practices in the treatment of common conditions associated with aging.

Top Scientists in the Field of Aging

The Marcus Institute attracts the best and brightest minds in geriatric research. They are pioneers in fields including:

• Non-invasive brain stimulation
• Frailty
• Delirium
• Alzheimer’s disease
• Dementia
• Falls
• Cardiology
• Health care services
• And more

Because we are a Harvard Medical School affiliate, our faculty is as invested in mentoring future researchers as they are in their own investigations. Our investigators are teachers, clinicians, and collaborators, with six faculty members holding full professor of medicine appointments at Harvard Medical School. Those they’ve trained have gone on to become leaders in their own right, including some within the Marcus Institute itself.

A Unique Interdisciplinary Approach

Aging is a complex biological process that affects all body systems. One of the Marcus Institute’s greatest and most unique strengths is our interdisciplinary nature. Experts in the brain work alongside experts in nutrition, cardiovascular function, genetics, pharmacology, health disparities, data analysis, and clinical trial development, to name just a few.

Our researchers work across fields to study areas such as frailty and its impact and measurement; ways to increase the quality of nursing home care; and non-invasive brain stimulation to improve Parkinson’s disease, depression, balance, memory, and more.