Nature Aging · Nov 12, 2026
Understanding the exposome across the life course to promote healthy aging: consensus recommendations from the Gateway Exposome Coordinating Center
By Lee J, Nichols E, Adar SD et al.
Healthy aging is shaped by the exposome—the accumulation of exposures experienced across the life course arising from intersections of the natural, physical, social, community and policy environments in which people age. This Consensus Statement reports recommendations from the Gateway Exposome Coordinating Center to accelerate life-course research on the exposome’s impacts on healthy aging, including Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Recommendations centered on five themes are presented: the promotion of interdisciplinary collaboration; the integration of life-course perspectives on the timing, accumulation and sequencing of exposures; systematically quantifying and incorporating broader contexts of time and place into health research; the adoption of mechanistic thinking to develop pathway-relevant exposure metrics; and leveraging new data streams, including wearable sensors, administrative records and remote sensing, to improve exposure measurement. These priorities emphasize harmonized measures, transparent methods and attention to bias, with the goal of identifying actionable intervention and policy targets across diverse populations that can shape individuals’ exposures, lived experiences, behaviors and, ultimately, health as they age.