Professor John Sedivy works with Alberto Caligiana in the Sedivy Lab in the Center on the Biology of Aging.
Courtesy of Deirdre Confar Photography/Brown University
RoC Skincare has begun its Empowered Aging initiative, a research project joined by Brown University’s Center on the Biology of Aging, enabling a council of dermatologists and doctors who specialize in aging to study the skin at a cellular level and learn how aging affects the body’s tissues. Throughout the research, RoC will use its discoveries to educate and empower a community of women who face many changes in their body and confidence with age, while also developing skincare solutions that support vitality and longevity at a biological degree. This initiative was inspired by a recent study indicating that the way women feel on the inside does not align with the way their skin presents.
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RoC Skincare has begun its Empowered Aging initiative, a research project joined by Brown University’s Center on the Biology of Aging, enabling a council of dermatologists and doctors who specialize in aging to study the skin at a cellular level and learn how aging affects the body’s tissues. Throughout the research, RoC will use its discoveries to educate and empower a community of women who face many changes in their body and confidence with age, while also developing skincare solutions that support vitality and longevity at a biological degree. This initiative was inspired by a recent study indicating that the way women feel on the inside does not align with the way their skin presents.
The RoC Skincare Longevity Research Fund was created on May 21, and Brown University Center on the Biology of Aging will begin supporting this research over the next five years. Conducting this research will be RoC’s Longevity Council, conjured specifically for this effort. The council consists of five members who practice dermatology, medicine and biotechnology related to longevity in aging, and also the director of Brown’s center on the Biology of Aging, professor John Sedivy, PhD.Point 225 building, home of the Center on the Biology of Aging. Courtesy of Nick Dentamaro/Brown University
The research among this council, funded by RoC, will support scientific studies exploring the biological processes of aging, how it affects the tissues throughout the body and identify mechanisms that can extend healthy life. Based on the findings throughout the next five years, RoC will create skincare interventions that alleviate the negative aspects of aging at a cellular level, rather than mitigating the appearance of aging.
“RoC is helping to advance research that challenges existing knowledge and explores big, often unexplored questions in the field of aging,” says Hillary Hutcheson, CMO at RoC. “This could involve investigating factors that contribute to why individuals age at different rates, identifying new biomarkers of aging, or understanding how environmental and lifestyle factors interact with and influence our biology.”
RoC conducted its Perksy Study of U.S. consumers in April 2025, and the data revealed 70% of women report feeling younger than their actual age, and 81% of women feel like the appearance of their skin impacts how they feel emotionally. This fund, inspired by these data points, sets out to provide women with clinically proven skincare that supports health and appearance, but also the effects of aging on their mental well being.
“It is evident that fundamental aging mechanisms affect many tissues in our bodies, and are coordinated by extensive cross-talk between the brain and other tissues,” says Sedivy, the director of Brown’s center. “The Geroscience community at large, which includes Brown University, believes that interventions that benefit healthy aging throughout our tissues are within reach.”
In previous years, RoC’s campaign, called the Look Forward Project, highlighted the benefits of incorporating solutions that optimize longevity in the skin. The Empowered Aging initiative builds on the project, offering additional functional, educational and emotional resources to support women's inner and outer vitality, per a May 21 press release. It is also a continuation of RoC’s women's mental health advocacy partnership with the SeekHer Foundation–a community of over 40,000 women.
The research will help produce an Empowered Aging Guide–a comprehensive resource focused on inner and outer vitality, age empowerment, optimism, hope and making a positive impact, Hutcheson says, that will reach the SeekHer Circle online community. The foundation will also receive monthly reflection prompts and four virtual events facilitated by licensed mental health professionals, for deeper engagement and peer support.
“We’re continuing this commitment to empowering women through the aging process through expert-backed education, clinically-proven skincare formulas, new research on perceptions about aging and community efforts that provide real women with tangible support,” Hutcheson adds.
In tandem with the counsel’s ongoing research and expansion on new areas of investigation, the members will assist with brand positioning, community initiatives and provide their expert commentary on longevity trends.
With this fund, she says, RoC expands upon its legacy that started over 65 years ago as a pharmacy in Paris with a pivotal research achievement discovering stabilized retinol–a heritage of scientific rigor enhancing skin health at every stage. The Longevity Council will guide the future of RoC innovation, and shape the brand's long-term vision for empowered aging, she adds.
“Brown University has particular expertise in the area of cellular senescence,” Sedivy says. “This research is within the core portfolio of the Brown Center on the Biology of Aging, and its support will enhance the quality and value of this research; it will [also] be used to support the training of students and junior researchers in the center, promoting their careers and retention in aging research.”
