Miller School of Medicine Stem Cell Research Advances to XPRIZE Healthspan Final
Research led by Joshua Hare, M.D., helped lay the foundation for laromestrocel, an investigational cell therapy that Longeveron will test for its effects on aging frailty, muscle function, cognition and immune function.
Key Takeaways
- Longeveron, a biotechnology company co-founded by Joshua Hare, M.D., licensed stem cell technology developed at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine.
- The company was named a finalist in the global XPRIZE Healthspan competition and received a $1 million milestone award.
- The investigational therapy, laromestrocel, is being studied for its potential effects on aging frailty, a condition associated with weakness, exhaustion and reduced physical function in older adults.
- Earlier clinical studies found improvements in six-minute walk distance, a measure of functional capacity and mobility.
When older adults become physically frail, they run a higher risk of falls, hospitalization and death. People with aging frailty may have exhaustion, weakness, slow walking speed and other symptoms, according to the American Academy of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation.
Joshua Hare, M.D., director of the Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute (ISCI) at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine, studies how mesenchymal stem cell therapy can treat aging frailty and other important medical conditions. In 2014, he served as scientific co-founder of a Miami-based biotech company, Longeveron, which licensed that stem cell technology from UM. In August 2026, after 12 years of research, Longeveron was named a finalist for the global XPRIZE Healthspan competition.
Healthspan is defined as the period of human life in which individuals are healthy and fully functional. The period of poor healthspan in the U.S. can reach up to 11 to 12 years and therefore places a large burden on families, Dr. Hare said.
“The XPRIZE catalyzed humans landing on the moon again, and now it’s trying to catalyze treatments for aging,” said Dr. Hare, also the director of the Donald Soffer Endowed Program in Regenerative Medicine, senior associate dean for experimental and cellular therapeutics, the Louis Lemberg Professor of Medicine (Cardiology), a professor of molecular and cellular pharmacology at the Miller School and a University of Miami professor of biomedical engineering. “If you can reduce aging frailty, for which our preliminary data has shown potential efficacy, that may translate to extending healthspan.”
Longeveron received a $1 million award to complete a new clinical study to test how well its stem cell therapy, called laromestrocel, can improve older people’s muscle, cognitive and immune function.
How Could Mesenchymal Stem Cells Help?
As a cardiologist, Dr. Hare conducted studies at the Miller School using stem cells to repair the heart. He has been studying mesenchymal stem cells, which are derived from adult bone marrow, since he first came to UM in 2007 to start the ISCI.
His team and other researchers built a scientific consensus that the cells don’t stay in the body long-term, but rather release factors that help modulate the immune system and small blood vessels of the body and encourage the body to grow new tissue.
“We discovered, for example, that when the heart is damaged, its ability to grow new heart muscle is greatly diminished, but if we give the mesenchymal stem cells, then the heart has shown an improved capacity to heal,” he said.
Dr. Hare and his colleagues also determined that donor-derived, or allogenic, stem cells appear to be at least as safe and effective as therapies derived from a patient’s own cells, as well as more affordable.
Why This Research Matters
Aging frailty can increase older adults’ risk of falls, hospitalization and death while limiting their ability to perform everyday activities.
Longeveron is studying whether laromestrocel, an investigational therapy based on mesenchymal stem cell research at the Miller School, can affect muscle, cognitive and immune function.
The planned randomized trial is intended to provide additional evidence about the therapy’s effects and its potential role in extending healthspan.
A Chance to Address Aging Frailty
Dr. Hare saw an opportunity to treat aging frailty. As humans age, our immune systems lose function, and we start losing muscle fibers without growing new ones. In 2014, he led a clinical trial at UM to examine whether intravenous stem cell infusions benefitted people with mild to moderate aging frailty.
“In 2014, there were very few people acknowledging that aging frailty was even a treatable disease,” he said.
The trial showed that the treatment improved participants’ six-minute walk distance, which measures muscle function.
“For example, if you’re a geriatrician taking care of an 80-year-old, they can either walk to the grocery store or they can’t,” Dr. Hare explained. “It’s a good measure of quality of life and what we call functional capacity, but it’s also a measure of health. If you can walk a normal distance, you’re probably healthy.”
From the Lab to the Clinic
After the clinical trial, Dr. Hare co-founded Longeveron with local investors, which licensed the technology for using mesenchymal stem cells to treat aging frailty.
Spinoff companies are an important mechanism to translate an idea from the lab to the clinic, Dr. Hare said, and they bring revenue streams back to the university. Longeveron is one of several companies spun off from the ISCI, and one of many from UM.
“The majority of what we develop in academia doesn’t have a commercial application, but it advances humankind by developing knowledge, which is in and of itself an important goal,” he said. “But when the knowledge appears to have a clinical/therapeutic opportunity, I think it’s logical that you hand it off to a group that focuses entirely on development and approval of the therapy and is willing to take a risk financially to make it happen. If it succeeds, everybody benefits.”
In 2017, Longeveron launched a trial of laromestrocel and found an improvement in participants’ six-minute walk distance. Nine months after treatment, fewer participants were classified as frail.
The company was excited but did not have a clear path toward commercialization, Dr. Hare said. Then, in 2023, XPRIZE Healthspan was announced. Six-minute walk test improvement was one of the criteria for evaluating applications. Longeveron entered the competition using the trial results, which were published in 2026 in Cell Stem Cell.
The Next Phase of the XPRIZE
For the final phase of XPRIZE Healthspan, Longeveron plans to run a randomized clinical trial to study laromestrocel’s effects on participants’ six-minute walk test, immune function and cognitive function. Dr. Hare said Longeveron expects to begin enrolling participants in summer 2027.
Longeveron and the 19 other finalists will submit their data for analysis by a panel of independent judges in 2029. In 2030, XPRIZE will announce the winner, who will receive up to $81 million for their work.
“It would be so exciting to see a concept developed in the laboratory reach patients and improve their health,“ Dr. Hare said. “At the end of the day, you want to see your ideas put into practice. That would be such a gratifying fulfillment.”
More from the Miller School of Medicine
University of Miami researchers review how intra-arterial stem cell therapy could support recovery after ischemic stroke.
ACCESS trial findings suggest carefully selected mismatched stem cell donors may expand transplant options for patients with blood cancers.
Could stem cell therapy transform care for people with multiple sclerosis? Flavia Nelson, M.D., discusses regenerative MS research.
![Fernando Mendoza, his family, National Multiple Sclerosis Society representatives, and University of Miami Miller School of Medicine and UHealth leaders pose during a ceremonial presentation of a 0,000 check establishing the Mendoza Family Fund to support multiple sclerosis stem cell research. Participants stand in front of a UHealth and Miller School backdrop, with Elsa Mendoza seated in a wheelchair at the center of the group. [Mendoza UM...FINAL 5-1 | Word], [Mendoza Fa...Comms Plan | Word]](https://i0.wp.com/news.med.miami.edu/wp-content/uploads/2026/07/img-mendoza-family-fund.jpg?fit=1100%2C733&ssl=1)
Miami native and 2026 NFL Draft No. 1 pick Fernando Mendoza and his family have established a $500,000 fund to advance multiple sclerosis stem cell research and patient care at UHealth and the Miller School of Medicine.
Tags: cardiology, Division of Cardiovascular Medicine, Dr. Joshua Hare, Interdisciplinary Stem Cell Institute, mesenchymal stem cells, stem cell therapies, stem cells