Today marks the first anniversary of the launch of Longevity & Healthspan – a journal dedicated to bridging the gap between research on the basic biology of aging, and clinical dysfunction associated with the aging process. The journal is edited by Janet Lord, Gordon Lithgow and James Kirkland, and has an internationally renowned Editorial Board.

Over the past year, Longevity & Healthspan has published articles spanning its broad scope of healthy and diseased aging, including, aging and cancer, immunology and neurodegeneration. The topic of musculoskeletal aging has also featured, through an on-going thematic series edited by Janet Lord and Aphrodite Vasilaki, the journal’s current Commissioning Editor. One highly accessed article published in the series by James N Cobley and colleagues discusses the positive effect that  physical exercise can have on reducing sarcopenia in older people.

In addition to the Musculoskeletal Aging series, the journal recently launched a thematic series on Cellular Senescence and Aging, edited by John Sedivy and Jan van Deursen. In their launch editorial, John and Jan highlight why there is a “need for further characterization of the senescent cell function at the level of the whole organism.”  We welcome submissions to both series and will consider articles ranging from research and reviews, to opinion pieces.

Finally, a research article by Editorial Board member Matt Kaeberlein and colleagues, which shows that, “caffeine extends life span, improves healthspan, and delays age-associated pathology in Caenorhabditis elegans,” is the most highly accessed article published in the journal to date. Over the next year, we plan to continue pulbishing interesting research such as this, providing the scientific community with a home for both basic and translational aging research, and developing the journal as a forum for discussion within the field.