Mechanism and measurement
Mitochondrial medicine, IHHT and HBOT device research, and the biomarker frameworks that make effect demonstrable.
Research
Our research
The science, and the programmes built on it
One page covering both what we study and how we study it — the mechanism beneath the work, the research programmes running on it, and the evidence they produce.
The mechanism
Why one programme addresses many conditions
Mitochondrial dysfunction sits beneath most age-related disease. That is why programmes across very different conditions share a common scientific foundation. Mitochondria generate the energy every cell depends on. When their function declines the consequences appear as apparently unrelated conditions — cognitive decline, metabolic disease, infertility, fatigue, immune dysfunction and reduced physical capacity.
Treating that common substrate, rather than each downstream condition separately, is why a single mechanism programme can serve autism research, neurodegeneration, fertility and metabolic health at the same time.
Controlled physiological stress — mild, deliberate challenge that prompts cellular adaptation
Mitochondrial biogenesis and efficiency — more capacity, better used
Measured endpoints — biomarker panels rather than symptom scores
Stress
controlled and mild
Adapt
mitochondria respond
Compound
energy and efficiency
Translate
clinics and policy
Research clusters
Four groups, twelve programmes
Global health challenges
Lyme, autism, neurodegeneration, diabetes, fertility and the exposome — six conditions sharing one mechanism.
Extreme environments
Space medicine, longevity habitats and hypoxic radioprotection.
Translation and policy
The veterinary trial, techno-philanthropy and the ICD-11 policy programme.
How we work
From mechanism to published evidence
01
Mechanism
Establish what is happening at cellular level and which part of it is modifiable.
02
Protocol
Turn the mechanism into a defined, repeatable intervention with dosing, sequencing and contraindications.
03
Evidence
Test in cohorts with measured endpoints, and publish what results.
04
Translation
Move validated protocols into clinics, and into the classification and policy work that makes them fundable.
Published work
Where the research appears
Our work appears in Oncotarget, Scientific Reports, Experimental Gerontology, Human Gene Therapy and Rejuvenation Research, among others, alongside chapters in the standard reference works in gerontology and longevity medicine.
Vive la radioresistance! — 80+ citations, 28,000+ direct views
WHO ICD-11 XT9T — the ‘ageing-related’ extension code, accepted 2018
1,100+ report pages across the Foundation’s analytical output
Science · Lead Priority
IHHT, IHT & HBOT
research Devices · Protocols · Their compositions
The Foundation's lead scientific priority: comprehensive research into intermittent hypoxic-hyperoxic training devices and protocols, with dedicated testing of machines and protocols against a validated evidence base.
● Mitochondrial hormesis● H5I2T● Clinician co-pilot● Comparative vs HBOT
Latest publication
New Space Medicine Scientific Article Preprint (September 2026)
The Biogerontology Research Foundation and Oxy Wave Foundation lead a 16-author international collaboration, with co-authors from NASA Johnson Space Center, Cedars-Sinai and the Broad Institute, proposing controlled hypoxic habitats as a core part of radiation protection for deep-space crews.
The Mechanism
From controlled oxygen to cellular adaptation
♨1
Controlled stress
Oxygen and CO₂ modulated in cycles
◉2
HIF-1α signalling
Hypoxia-inducible response activated
◎3
Mitochondrial hormesis
Biogenesis and rejuvenation
◈4
Systemic adaptation
Immune, vascular and glymphatic gains
IHHT applies increasing levels of controlled stress by manipulating available oxygen and carbon dioxide. The result is mitochondrial rejuvenation and biogenesis, improved microcapillary health, glymphatic cleaning of the brain, and strengthening of the immune system — the cellular basis of both longevity and the treatment of major metabolic disease.
Dose & Response
The hormetic window
The same science supports two distinct protocol families: mild amplitudes for treating pathology, and high amplitudes for enhancement and resilience.
Adaptive benefitHormetic stress amplitude →
Two protocol families
- IHHT — mild, therapeutic amplitude used in the management of disease
- H5I2T — hypoxic, hyperoxic, hypercapnic and hypocapnic high-intensity interval training
- Higher hormetic amplitude, focused on neuroenhancement and immune strengthening
- Protocol selection is matched to pathology, goal and current health status
Comparative Analysis
IHHT measured against hyperbaric oxygen therapy
Hyperbaric therapy dominates the Western market through marketing rather than comparative evidence. Our programme tests that assumption directly.
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9264
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| DIMENSION | IHHT | HBOT |
|---|---|---|
| Relative effectiveness | Baseline +20–30% | Baseline |
| Safety & side-effects | No pressurisation | Pressurisation risks |
| Cost & complexity | Lower, simpler | High cost, complex |
| Evidence base | Growing peer-reviewed | Established, widespread |
| Origin | Cosmonaut hypoxic training | Astronaut oxygen programmes |
Programme Architecture
What we are building
Device research is only one layer. The protocol-personalisation infrastructure is a cornerstone of the programme, not an add-on.
Optimised IHHT machinesDesign, testing and manufacture-readiness
Protocol libraryThousands of variations by pathology and goal
Clinician AI co-pilotProtocol adjustment to patient specifics
Telemedicine layerSpecialist consultation for clinical use
Four layers, one system
The Foundation studies the full stack: the machines themselves, the protocol compositions they run, and the decision infrastructure clinicians need to apply them safely to individual patients.
- Study, testing and optimisation of existing machines
- Advanced high-intensity protocol development
- Comparative analysis against hyperbaric approaches
- Developed with the practitioners who established the original IHHT science
Evidence Base
A validated scientific foundation
1960s
Original hypoxic training developed through space medicine
1990s
Intermittent hypoxic conditioning enters wider clinical practice
2019
Nobel Prize recognition of cellular oxygen sensing
Today
Applied research, protocol optimisation and validation
Clinical Translation
Conditions under investigation
Chronic Lyme
Mitochondrial dysfunction underlying persistent symptoms.
Alzheimer’s
disease
Neuroprotection through improved cellular energy.
Type-II diabetes
Metabolic recalibration via hormetic conditioning.
Long COVID
Chronic viral respiratory recovery and immune rebalancing.
Collaborate
Work with us on a research programme
We collaborate with researchers, clinicians, universities and institutions across every cluster in the portfolio.