Decode Aging

Research & Development

Building a longitudinal clinical cohort for normative aging research.

A deeply phenotyped, biobanked, FAIR-structured dataset designed to support personalized preventive medicine, translational aging research, and technology validation.

Explore the Dataset

Clinical Infrastructure

A research-ready clinical infrastructure

Own Clinics

Standardized data acquisition, direct QM

Scientific Partnerships

Universities, research institutes, methodological development

Clinical Partnerships

Hospital cooperations, disease cohort enrichment

Clinically embedded

Data collected directly in clinical operations – under real-world conditions, not artificial research settings.

Longitudinal by design

Every patient is re-examined regularly. This creates individual health trajectories over time.

Built for reuse

FAIR data structure, biobanking, and platform access make the dataset usable for external collaborations.

There is no such dataset. We have screened them all.

Systematic screening of 633 publicly available datasets. Not a single one met all criteria.

633Datasets screened
153Partially relevant
0Met all criteria

Eight dataset requirements

01Quality
02Deep
03Phenotypes
04Longitudinal
05FAIR Data
06Heterogenous
07Biobanked Samples
08Technological Vault

From symptoms to multimodal understanding

01Symptom-based
02Phenotypic
03Molecular
04Multimodal Endotypes

What the YEARS dataset contains

Multimodal data collection across all relevant dimensions of human health.

Omics

  • ·Genetics
  • ·Epigenetics
  • ·Metagenomics
  • ·Proteomics
  • ·Transcriptomics
  • ·Metabolomics
  • ·Microbiome
  • ·Immunophenotyping
  • ·Immunosequencing

Clinical Labs

  • ·Cardiovascular
  • ·Inflammation
  • ·Hematology/Coagulation
  • ·Metabolic/Lipid
  • ·Hormone
  • ·Kidney/Liver
  • ·Autoimmunity
  • ·Vitamins
  • ·Blood gas

Imaging

  • ·Resting ECG
  • ·Stress ECG
  • ·Resting echo
  • ·Brain MRI*
  • ·Liver MRI*
  • ·Whole body MRI*
  • ·Facial/skin imaging†
  • ·Thyroid/vessel US
  • ·Fundus photography

Medical History

  • ·Family history
  • ·Previous conditions
  • ·Medications
  • ·Surgeries
  • ·Allergies
  • ·Symptom diary

Physical Function

  • ·Grip strength
  • ·Gait speed
  • ·Balance
  • ·VO₂max
  • ·Body composition
  • ·Bone density

Lifestyle & Mental

  • ·Sleep quality
  • ·Physical activity
  • ·Nutrition
  • ·Stress
  • ·Mental health
  • ·Social factors
+ Biobanking:Blood · Faeces · Microbiology swabs · Saliva · Sputum · Urine (all repeated)

Data Quality SOP Pipeline

01
SOP-controlled acquisition
Standardized protocols for every measurement
02
Quality assurance
Automated and manual validation
03
FAIR-ready structuring
Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, Reusable
04
Biobanking
Long-term storage under defined conditions
05
Secure platform
GDPR-compliant access for collaboration partners

Scientific operations and governance

Ethics approval, data governance and clinical quality systems form the foundation of our research infrastructure.

Ethics

Ethics committee approval and study registration in accordance with international standards.

Data governance

GDPR-compliant data processing, pseudonymized storage, clear IP agreements before data access.

Quality systems

SOP-supported acquisition protocols, internal quality controls, external auditability.

Anonymised case reports

Examples of clinical discoveries from YEARS operations.

Patient 1

40y male, unexplained fatigue

FindingMGUS
ActionHaematological observation

Patient 2

81y female, severe exercise intolerance + urticaria

FindingWDEIA
ActionGluten-free diet + Omalizumab

Patient 3

45y male, no findings

FindingLp(a) >100 mg/dl
ActionPCSK9-I trial / Inclisiran

Collaboration models

We offer three collaboration pathways – for research institutions, industry partners, and clinical expansion.

Academic

Biomarker discovery & publications

  • ·Biomarker discovery
  • ·Cohort analyses
  • ·Joint publications
  • ·Methodological development

Industry (Translational)

Diagnostic validation & IP-protected

  • ·Diagnostic validation
  • ·Digital biomarker testing
  • ·Wearable validation
  • ·Biomarker qualification

Clinical implementation

Protocolised assessments & cohort expansion

  • ·Protocolised assessments
  • ·Cohort expansion
  • ·Structured data
  • ·Diseased cohort enrichment

Building the YEARS dataset

Timeline and milestones

Year 1Completed

Proof of Concept

  • ·Berlin center opened Q3/2024
  • ·Start of recruitment
  • ·SOPs established
Year 2+In progress

Longitudinal build-out

  • ·400–600 subjects/physician/year
  • ·Annual follow-ups
  • ·Wearable integration
Year 3–5Planned

First integrated analyses

  • ·PoC study
  • ·Recallable subjects
  • ·First longitudinal multi-omics
Year 10+Long-term

Scaled infrastructure

  • ·10–25k deeply phenotyped
  • ·50k total with partners
  • ·50,000+ patient years

Explore collaboration

For academic collaborations and industry partnerships, contact our research team directly.

Dr. Jan K. Hennigs · YEARS Medical Center · Joachimsthaler Straße 34 · 10719 Berlin

Free consultationBook Appointment