On June 16, 2026, the British Society for Research on Ageing (BSRA) announced a record 18 small research grants across 13 UK institutions. BSRA says DoNotAge.org funded 15 of the 18 awards, while Quest Nutra/Pharma funded the remaining three.
This is one of the clearest publicly documented examples of DoNotAge funding external ageing research. It is important to describe the relationship accurately: DoNotAge funded the awards through the BSRA programme. That does not mean DoNotAge conducted the individual projects, controls their methods or knows what their eventual results will be.
DoNotAge–BSRA grants at a glance
| 2026 funding fact | Verified detail |
|---|---|
| Total BSRA small research grants | 18 |
| DoNotAge-funded awards | 15 |
| Quest Nutra/Pharma-funded awards | 3 |
| UK institutions represented | 13 |
| Announcement date | June 16, 2026 |
| Evidence status | Primary-source grant announcement and BSRA awardee directory |
Who received the 15 DoNotAge-funded BSRA grants?
BSRA’s current grant-awardee directory lists the following 2026 DoNotAge.org–BSRA Small Research Grant recipients:
| Researcher | Institution |
|---|---|
| Matthew Barrett | Newcastle University |
| Dr Colleen Deane | University of Southampton |
| Dr Tom Francis | King’s College London |
| Dr Kriti Gupta | University of Glasgow |
| Dr Cealan Henry | University of Exeter |
| Dr Chiara Herzog | King’s College London |
| Dr Ahmad Khundakar | Teesside University |
| Dr Marie Korzepa | University of Birmingham |
| Dr Campbell Menzies | University of Nottingham |
| Dr Thomas Nicol | University of Oxford |
| Dr Vanessa Smer-Barreto | University of Edinburgh |
| Dr Pamela Swiatlowska | Imperial College London |
| Joanna Ward | University of Lincoln |
| Bradley Welsh | University of Birmingham |
| Edward Wiggins | University of Birmingham |
BSRA separately lists three Quest Nutra/Pharma-funded recipients: Dr Kirsty McGee at the University of Birmingham, Dr Jacob A Moorad at the University of Edinburgh and Declan Moran at the University of Oxford.
What kinds of ageing research are being funded?
BSRA describes the 2026 portfolio as spanning multiple areas of the biology of ageing, including dementia, cardiovascular disease, pneumonia, menopause, inflammation and circadian rhythms. The breadth matters because this is not a single DoNotAge-sponsored product trial or a programme designed to validate one supplement. It is a collection of independent small research projects across different institutions and biological questions.
BSRA also describes many recipients as early-career researchers. In its June announcement, the society said the 18 awards represented roughly six times the number of grants it would normally fund.
Joanna Ward: the best-documented project example
BSRA gives Joanna Ward’s University of Lincoln project more detail than the other awards in its announcement. Ward is studying how cardiovascular disease affects inflammation as people age, with particular interest in persistent cardiovascular risk despite treatment.
That work also surfaced publicly at the DoNotAge Conference 2026, where Ward discussed inflammaging, atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease and NLRP3. The grant record and conference presentation are two distinct evidence sources: the verified funding relationship and the later conference-stage research discussion.
Read the Joanna Ward DoNotAge Conference 2026 analysis.
What does DoNotAge funding establish?
The BSRA source establishes that DoNotAge provided funding for 15 awards in the 2026 small-grant round. It does not establish that:
- DoNotAge designed or conducted all 15 projects.
- the projects are clinical trials of DoNotAge products;
- the researchers endorse DoNotAge products;
- the studies have already produced positive results; or
- future publications should be interpreted as evidence for a specific DoNotAge supplement unless the project itself tested that product.
That distinction lets the funding relationship remain commercially and scientifically meaningful without turning sponsorship into an efficacy claim.
Who was involved in the funding announcement?
BSRA’s June announcement quoted then-Chair Professor David Weinkove discussing the value of expanded funding for ageing research, and DoNotAge founder and clinical research advisor Alan Graves confirming that DoNotAge was funding 15 projects. BSRA later appointed Bradley Elliott as its new Chair in October 2026, so Weinkove’s title here refers to his role at the time of the grant announcement.
What comes next for these grants?
A funding announcement is the beginning of an evidence trail, not the end. The next meaningful evidence will come from project-specific outputs such as institutional updates, registrations, conference abstracts, preprints, peer-reviewed papers and any clearly documented connection to a DoNotAge ingredient or product.
Primary sources
- British Society for Research on Ageing — BSRA Funds 18 Small Research Grants in 2026
- BSRA — 2026 grant awardees
- DoNotAge research, clinical trials and grants tracker
DoNotAge–BSRA grants FAQ
How many BSRA grants did DoNotAge fund in 2026?
BSRA states that DoNotAge.org funded 15 of the 18 small research grants awarded in its 2026 round.
Did DoNotAge fund all 18 grants?
No. BSRA says Quest Nutra/Pharma funded three awards, while DoNotAge funded 15.
Were the grants all for DoNotAge product research?
No. BSRA describes a broad portfolio of ageing-biology projects across topics such as dementia, cardiovascular disease, inflammation, pneumonia, menopause and circadian rhythms. The funding announcement does not describe the portfolio as 15 product trials.
Does grant funding mean the researchers endorse DoNotAge?
No. A documented funding relationship establishes sponsorship of the research award. It should not be converted into an endorsement unless a separate source establishes that relationship.
Are results available from all 15 projects?
Not from the grant announcement itself. Later project outputs need to be evaluated as they become available.
Linked entities and research
DoNotAge.org–BSRA Small Research Grants 2026 — 15 Awards
BSRA announced 18 Small Research Grants across 13 UK institutions in 2026. Alan Graves stated that DoNotAge.org funded 15 of those projects; Quest NutraPharma also sponsored the programme.
Joanna Ward — Cardiovascular Disease and Inflammation in Ageing
BSRA identifies Joanna Ward as a recipient of a DoNotAge.org-BSRA Small Research Grant in 2026.
Joanna Ward
DoNotAge Conference 2026 speaker and recipient of a DoNotAge.org-BSRA Small Research Grant. The DoNotAge-BSRA award supports Ward's cardiovascular-inflammation research programme; it is distinct from the funding listed for the registered icosapent-ethyl study, whose protocol names Amarin Global and the University of Lincoln.
David Weinkove
Speaker at DoNotAge Conference 2026.