For Funders
Here is exactly what we are testing — and what would make us stop.
No jargon on this page. We explain the idea, what the money pays for, what a good answer looks like, and what would make us shut the project down. Use the switch at the top of the page if you'd rather read the technical version.
What is the idea?
People who live past 100 have a lot more of one kind of immune cell than the rest of us. That cell can kill damaged or abnormal cells. Nobody knows yet whether it helps people live longer, or whether it just shows up along the way. We want to find out if it can be counted reliably in ordinary people, using blood tests that already exist.
What are we actually funding?
Ninety days of careful measurement work — not a lab, not a building, not a treatment. We pay experts who already have the equipment to run the test, check that it gives the same answer twice, and tell us honestly whether the numbers hold up.
What does a good result look like?
A lab runs the test, gets the same result when it repeats it, and we can clearly tell people apart by how much of this cell they carry. If that happens, there is something worth studying in a bigger group of people in 2027.
What would make us stop?
If a good lab cannot repeat the measurement reliably, we stop and say so. If the differences between people turn out to be noise, we stop. We would rather return a clear no than keep spending on a maybe.
What are we NOT doing?
We are not selling a treatment. We are not giving anyone an injection. We are not offering a test you can buy. There is no clinic. Anyone promising those things from this research is ahead of the evidence — including us.
Why Phoenix?
Everything we need is already within a thirty-minute drive: university and hospital labs that do this kind of cell counting every day, plus companies that specialize in copying a test from a published paper. We rent the expertise instead of building it.
What might come later
Could this also matter for younger couples — before cancer or aging have done their damage?
This project is only about counting cells. But if the measurement works, and if future research shows these cells are truly protective, the biggest question might not be about people who are already 100. It might be about people in their 30s, 40s, or 50s: can we see warning signs earlier, and can science learn to support the immune system before cancer or aging take hold?
If the cells can be measured reliably, doctors might one day use them to watch for risk before symptoms start.
If the cells are shown to fight cancer, researchers could study how to support them safely, instead of waiting until someone is sick.
None of this is offered now. This is a possibility, not a promise.
Where the money goes
Five areas, all of them people and lab time. Nothing is spent on buildings or equipment during the first 90 days.
Scientific oversight
Clinical immunology PI, T-cell scientific lead and advisory group time.
Assay work
Panel design, staining protocol, controls and repeatability runs at a partner core.
Regulatory & ethics
IRB preparation, consent documents, data handling.
Sample collection
Participant recruitment and phlebotomy via local clinical services.
Sequencing
T-cell receptor repertoire analysis and bioinformatics support.
Specific budget figures are shared with prospective funders on request and through the relevant funding platform's disclosures.
Please read this before you consider funding us
This is early-stage research. The most likely outcome of any single research project is that it does not lead to a product. We are not selling a treatment, and we will not claim these cells make anyone live longer. If the measurement does not hold up, the project ends and there is nothing to sell. Please only fund research you can afford to lose.
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