UTMB and Blue Zones to Launch Project in Galveston

GALVESTON, Texas, Feb. 20, 2026 /PRNewswire/ -- The University of Texas System Board of Regents today approved an agreement between The University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) and Blue Zones.

Following today's approval, UTMB will lead the launch of Blue Zones Project in March as a multi‑year initiative that begins with a nine-month foundation phase focused on building a local team, planning, data review, community engagement, and partnership development.

During this period, the Blue Zones Project will recruit, hire, and train staff from the Galveston community, ensuring it launches with strong local ownership, clear priorities, and a team rooted in the community. This phase culminates in a large communitywide kickoff event, where residents, partners, and local leaders celebrate the start of the full project implementation and officially launch the work into the public sphere.

Blue Zones Project is a comprehensive, research-informed population health initiative designed to help communities improve well-being, resilience, and economic vitality by shaping environments that make healthy choices easier. The approach is based on research and principles developed by Dan Buettner, Blue Zones founder and National Geographic Fellow and Explorer, who identified the cultures of the world — or blue zones — with the healthiest, longest-living populations.

Last year, UTMB spearheaded the Blue Zones Ignite assessment, bringing together more than 24 community partners to evaluate the readiness of Galveston for a communitywide approach to well-being. The assessment included an in-depth analysis by Blue Zones to determine the city's feasibility and potential for lasting impact.

"UTMB has been part of Galveston's story for nearly 135 years, and our commitment to the health and vitality of this community runs deep," said Dr. Jochen Reiser, UTMB President and CEO of the UTMB Health System. "Our mission extends well beyond the walls of our hospitals and clinics. Blue Zones Project gives us a proven way to support the well‑being of our entire island community by shaping the places where people live, learn, work, and gather. We are honored to help bring this transformative effort to Galveston, and we look forward to what we can achieve together for generations to come."

Research shows that where people live has a bigger influence on their health than their genetics, so Blue Zones Project focuses on the Life Radius^® — the area close to home where people spend 90% of their lives. Blue Zones Project communities optimize public policies, social connections, and the places and spaces where people spend the most time (streets, parks, schools, workplaces, grocery stores, faith communities, and homes) to help make healthy choices easy and more accessible to all.

Communities that have implemented the Blue Zones Project have reported double-digit drops in obesity and smoking rates, increased economic investment in local corridors, grant funding to support policies and programs that expand access to quality health and wellness resources, and measurable savings in health care costs.

"Galveston has a long history of resilience and innovation, and Blue Zones Project builds on that spirit," said Ben Leedle, CEO of Blue Zones and co-founder of Blue Zones Project. "Partnering with UTMB — an institution that has led with vision and scientific excellence for generations — gives this work a powerful foundation. Together, we're aligning community leaders, employers, organizations, and residents around proven strategies that make healthy living easier for everyone on the island. We're honored to spark this next chapter for Galveston."

Blue Zones has begun actively hiring full-time staff locally — click here to learn about career opportunities.

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, Blue Zones Kitchen, Blue Zones Challenge, Blue Zones American Kitchen, and Secrets of the Blue Zones — all published by National Geographic books. An Emmy Award-winning 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 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, seven 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.

Contact:

Naomi Imatome-Yun, Blue Zones
[email protected]
917.952.8534

Melissa McDonald, UTMB
[email protected]
409.747.1538

SOURCE Blue Zones