Kevin Flurkey
Biologist of aging at The Jackson Laboratory who has studied mouse lifespan and hormones since the early 1980s and co-authored the Interventions Testing Program papers on rapamycin
The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine (papers 2009–2025) · earlier work on reproductive aging in mice with Caleb Finch (1982)
Portrait: ResearchGate
Kevin Flurkey is a co-author of four Atlas papers from the National Institute on Aging Interventions Testing Program (ITP), which tests possible anti-aging drugs in genetically mixed mice at three sites at once. The 2009 Nature paper (HAR2009) showed that rapamycin, a drug that blocks mTOR, extended mouse lifespan even when it was started late in life. Follow-up papers showed that resveratrol and simvastatin did not extend life in the same experiment (MIL2011), that rapamycin's effect grows with dose and is larger in females (MIL2014), and that acarbose, 17-alpha-estradiol and NDGA extend lifespan mainly in males (HAR2014). These are mouse results; whether they carry over to people is still open.
Flurkey's PubMed record goes back to 1982, with a paper with Caleb Finch on how levels of the reproductive hormones LH, progesterone and prolactin change with age in female C57BL/6J mice. At The Jackson Laboratory, Flurkey has worked on mouse aging with David Harrison's group, including the ITP studies and, more recently, genetic studies of lifespan in Diversity Outbred mice, a genetically mixed mouse population. A 2025 paper in Genetics, with Gary Churchill's group and Calico Life Sciences, combined three such studies with 2,444 mice and found eight regions of the genome that affect lifespan.
Milestones in the Atlas
A selection, not a full bibliography: only papers that meet the Atlas inclusion criteria.
| Year | Evidence | Study |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | A | Rapamycin fed late in life extends lifespan in genetically heterogeneous mice HAR2009 Co-author of the Nature paper showing that rapamycin fed late in life extends lifespan in genetically mixed mice. |
| 2011 | A | Rapamycin, but not resveratrol or simvastatin, extends life span of genetically heterogeneous mice MIL2011 Co-author of the ITP paper in which rapamycin extended lifespan but resveratrol and simvastatin did not. |
| 2014 | A | Acarbose, 17-α-estradiol, and nordihydroguaiaretic acid extend mouse lifespan preferentially in males. HAR2014 Co-author of the ITP paper in which acarbose, 17-alpha-estradiol and NDGA extended lifespan, mainly in males. |
| 2014 | A | Rapamycin-mediated lifespan increase in mice is dose and sex dependent and metabolically distinct from dietary restriction MIL2014 Co-author of the ITP paper showing that rapamycin's lifespan effect depends on dose and sex. |
Co-authors in the Atlas 7
People with a profile here who share at least one study with Kevin Flurkey.
ShowHide
- Clinton Astle 4 shared studies Long-time research associate of David Harrison at The Jackson Laboratory, with work on mouse blood stem cells and aging since the 1970s, and a co-author of the Interventions Testing Program papers that showed rapamycin extends mouse lifespan
- David E. Harrison 4 shared studies Led the Jackson Laboratory site of the NIA Interventions Testing Program. His 2009 Nature paper showed that rapamycin extends the lifespan of genetically diverse mice even when feeding starts at 20 months of age, which the authors described as the first pharmacological extension of lifespan in both sexes of a mammal
- Nancy L. Nadon 4 shared studies Scientist and programme official at the US National Institute on Aging who oversaw research resources for aging biology and helped run the Interventions Testing Program that found rapamycin extends mouse lifespan
- Randy Strong 4 shared studies Leads the San Antonio site of the NIA Interventions Testing Program, which tests each compound in parallel at three sites under one shared protocol. He first-authored the program's reports on resveratrol and other supplements (2012) and on rapamycin combined with acarbose (2022)
- Richard A. Miller 4 shared studies Leads the University of Michigan site of the NIA Interventions Testing Program. His papers showed that rapamycin extends mouse lifespan when started in middle age, and that the size of the benefit depends on dose and differs between males and females
- Zelton Dave Sharp 3 shared studies Molecular biologist at UT Health San Antonio who works on rapamycin and aging in mice, from the Interventions Testing Program lifespan studies to cancer prevention in tumour-prone mice
- Adam B. Salmon Biologist of aging at UT Health San Antonio whose work in this Atlas spans rapamycin in mice and in common marmosets. He is a co-author on the Interventions Testing Program reports from the San Antonio site and on the marmoset rapamycin studies on blood markers, epigenetic age and the salivary gland
Every researcher with a profile →
Thank you. That helps us know which pages have been read by someone who knows the work.
Thank you. We will check it and correct the page.
Thank you. Your answer was counted anonymously.