The National Academy of Medicine (NAM) has opened the final Grand Prize Phase of its Healthy Longevity Global Competition, marking the culmination of a multi-year international effort to advance human healthspan. The phase is open exclusively to the 720 global recipients of Catalyst Awards issued between 2020 and 2025. One project will receive a $1.5 million grand prize, alongside additional awards including a $250,000 second-place prize, a $125,000 third-place prize, and several honorable mentions.
Founded in 2019, the competition has helped catalyze a global movement to improve physical, cognitive, and social well-being as people age. Through its Catalyst Phase, the NAM and its partners distributed more than $36 million to early-stage ideas across more than 50 countries, while a smaller group of innovators advanced through accelerator support. The final phase will spotlight projects that demonstrate measurable—or strongly potential—impact on healthy longevity in humans, with an emphasis on scalability, global applicability, and transformative scientific or societal contributions.
Applications for the Grand Prize Phase are open through May 4, 2026, with awardees to be notified in September 2026. Finalists will be selected through a multi-stage review process involving global partners and an international panel of experts, with winners recognized at the Healthy Longevity Global Innovator Summit in Washington, D.C., this October 20, 2026.