The University of Texas Medical Branch Launches Blue Zones Ignite™ to Improve Well-Being in Galveston

Blue Zones to conduct a citywide assessment and propose a plan to help all residents live healthier

GALVESTON, Texas, July 15, 2025 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) and Blue Zones, the global leader in longevity research and community well-being transformation, have announced an initiative to launch Blue Zones Ignite in Galveston.

Blue Zones uses an evidence-based, environmental approach to making healthy choices easier in the places where people spend the most time. Blue Zones will work with UTMB and other community leaders to conduct an in-depth readiness and feasibility assessment to determine how to make it a healthier place to live, work, and thrive. Together with the community, the Blue Zones team, in collaboration with UTMB, will assess readiness and build a plan for change.

UTMB, a leader in clinical care and research, brings deep expertise to this collaboration through its innovative programs focused on healthy living, chronic disease prevention, and healthy aging. As an academic health center committed to advancing health across the lifespan, UTMB integrates cutting-edge research and clinical care with community-based initiatives that promote wellness and extend longevity. The UTMB engagement with Blue Zones aligns with the mission to create healthier communities by combining science, care delivery, and local engagement to improve quality of life for all.

"At UTMB, our mission goes beyond treating illness—we are committed to helping people live longer, healthier lives," said Dr. Jochen Reiser, President of UTMB and CEO of the UTMB Health System. "The assessment with Blue Zones represents a bold step forward in transforming the health of our community. By applying proven, science-based strategies within the context of our unique academic medical center, we aim to foster well-being at every stage of life. It reflects our deep commitment to prevention, longevity, and healthy living for all."

Ben Leedle, CEO of Blue Zones and Co-founder of Blue Zones Project, said: "We're honored to work in partnership with the Galveston community and The University of Texas Medical Branch on this exciting initiative to improve well-being across the island. UTMB's leadership in health and innovation makes them an ideal partner—and the insight, vision, and involvement of the community will help shape the plan we co-create for a healthier, more vibrant future."

The Blue Zones Approach
Blue Zones employs a proven solution in collaboration with communities to help people live better and longer lives. The company's work is based on research and principles developed by National Geographic Fellow and founder Dan Buettner, who identified the cultures of the world—or blue zones—with the healthiest, longest-living populations.

The Blue Zones approach focuses on the largest determinant of health: the environment in which we live. Instead of focusing solely on individual behavior change, Blue Zones helps communities make permanent and semi-permanent changes to policies, systems, streets, surroundings, and social networks so it's easier for residents to eat wisely, move naturally, and connect more with others as they move throughout their day. By improving the Life Radius®—the area close to home where most Americans spend 90% of their lives—Blue Zones transformations have been able to move the needle dramatically in improving overall population health and well-being. Participating communities have seen double-digit drops in obesity and smoking rates, economic investment in downtown corridors, grant funding awards to support policies and programs to improve health equity, and measurable savings in healthcare costs.

The Blue Zones expert team will connect with Galveston leaders and organizations to begin immediate work assessing the strengths, needs, and challenges that residents are facing today. Blue Zones will then create a policy-focused transformation plan that, once implemented, can drive widespread improvements in well-being, reductions in health care costs, and improve economic vitality in the region.

About Blue Zones
Blue Zones employs evidence-based ways to help people live better, longer. The company's work is rooted in explorations and research done by founder and National Geographic Fellow Dan Buettner in blue zones regions around the world, where people live extraordinarily long and/or happy lives. The original research and findings were released in Buettner's bestselling books The Blue Zones Solution, The Blue Zones of Happiness, The Blue Zones, Thrive, and Blue Zones Kitchen—all published by National Geographic books. A hit docuseries, Live to 100: Secrets of the Blue Zones, was released on Netflix in 2023. Using original Blue Zones research, Blue Zones works with cities and counties to make healthy choices easier through permanent and semi-permanent changes to our human-made surroundings. Participating communities have experienced double-digit drops in obesity and tobacco use and have saved millions of dollars in healthcare costs. For more information, visit www.bluezones.com.

About The University of Texas Medical Branch
Texas' first academic health center opened its doors in 1891 and today has four campuses, five health sciences schools, six institutes for advanced study, a research enterprise that includes one of only two national laboratories dedicated to the safe study of infectious threats to human health, a Level 1 Trauma Center and a health system offering a full range of primary and specialized medical services throughout the Texas Gulf Coast region. UTMB is an institution in the University of Texas System and a member of the Texas Medical Center. 

Contacts:
Blue Zones
Naomi Imatome-Yun
[email protected] 

The University of Texas Medical Branch
Stephen Hadley
[email protected]

SOURCE Blue Zones