New research proposes framework to define and measure the biology of health

A new paper from Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health, Butler Columbia Aging Center, and Columbia Irving Medical Center introduces a scientific framework for understanding the biological foundation of health—what the researchers term Intrinsic Health. Published in Science Advances, the study lays the groundwork for measuring and promoting health itself, rather than merely treating disease.

Titled “Intrinsic Health as a Foundation for a Science of Health,” the paper defines intrinsic health as a field-like state that supports the body’s ability to maintain internal balance across dynamic biological networks—enabling resilience, performance, and sustainability over time. The authors argue that while medicine has long focused on disease, a robust science of health has remained elusive—until now.

“Understanding the mechanisms that support health—and shifting our focus from late-stage disease treatment to health optimization—was our core objective,” said lead author Alan Cohen, PhD, associate professor of Environmental Health Sciences at the Mailman School and a member of the Butler Columbia Aging Center. “By defining, measuring, and targeting intrinsic health, we move closer to realizing the ultimate aim of health science: helping individuals and populations thrive across the lifespan.”

According to the researchers, intrinsic health arises from the interaction of three essential biological components:

• Energy: The fundamental requirement for life, supporting the function of cells and organs.
• Communication: The system’s ability to acquire and transmit information, enabling adaptation and coordination.
• Structure: The physical framework in which energy and communication support biological function and adaptation.

These components, shaped by billions of years of natural selection, collectively produce health as an emergent, measurable property. Intrinsic health, the researchers note, is quantifiable and tends to decline with age—making it a vital focus for aging research and preventive medicine.

“This is part of a broader scientific and cultural revolution,” said co-author Martin Picard, PhD, associate professor in the Butler Aging Center and Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology at Columbia Irving Medical Center. “We’re moving away from viewing the body as a molecular machine and toward an understanding of the body as an energetic process—life itself, and our health, as fundamentally energetic processes.”

The authors emphasize that the ability to measure intrinsic health could catalyze transformative advances:

• Test lifestyle and technological interventions for direct impact on health
• Enable individuals to track and optimize their own health
• Shift medicine from reactive treatment to proactive health maintenance

“Measuring health itself will allow public health and medicine to focus on building, maintaining, and restoring health—not just preventing and treating disease,” said Cohen.

“With a clear biological target, public health and health care can become increasingly proactive and preventive,” noted senior author Linda P. Fried, MD, MPH, Dean of the Mailman School and Director of the Butler Columbia Aging Center. “This new framework could guide population health improvements, inform policy, and establish metrics to track effectiveness scientifically and systematically.”

Co-authors are John Beard, Dan W. Belsky, Columbia Mailman School and Butler Aging Center;  Julie Herbstman, Christine Kuryla, Molei Liu, Nour Makarem, Daniel Malinsky, Sen Pei, and Ying Wei, Columbia Mailman School.

The Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center
Bringing together the campus-wide resources of a top-tier research university, the Robert N. Butler Columbia Aging Center approach to aging science is an innovative, multidisciplinary one with an eye to practical and policy implications.  Its mission is to add to the knowledge base needed to better understand the aging process and the societal implications of our increased potential for living longer lives. For more information about this center which is based at the Columbia Mailman School of Public Health, please visit: aging.columbia.edu.

Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health

Founded in 1922, the Columbia University Mailman School of Public Health pursues an agenda of research, education, and service to address the critical and complex public health issues affecting New Yorkers, the nation and the world. The Columbia Mailman School is the third largest recipient of NIH grants among schools of public health. Its nearly 300 multi-disciplinary faculty members work in more than 100 countries around the world, addressing such issues as preventing infectious and chronic diseases, environmental health, maternal and child health, health policy, climate change and health, and public health preparedness. It is a leader in public health education with more than 1,300 graduate students from 55 nations pursuing a variety of master’s and doctoral degree programs. The Columbia Mailman School is also home to numerous world-renowned research centers, including ICAP and the Center for Infection and Immunity. For more information, please visit www.mailman.columbia.edu.