This Annual Review thoroughly examines current longevity issues in the fields of biology, behavioral and social sciences, and contemporary methodology. With a wide range of contributors, the volume takes on a multidisciplinary perspective, accounting for the complex interplay of the varying factors that affect different aspects of longevity.
Biology section: Analyzes topics such as how genetics and environmental influences factor into the prevention and treatment of age-related diseases.
Behavioral and social science section: Brings to light data not very well known to the research community concerning individual personality characteristics in old age and to what extent they help to explain optimal adjustment in very late life.
Methodology section: Incorporates a number of well established studies, and contributors show how these studies can be compared to determine reproducibility, biologic, behavioral, social, and cross ethnic/cultural implications of their findings.
About the Author
Leonard W. Poon, PhD, DPhil, is Professor of Public Health in the Department of Health Policy and Management, Professor of Psychology in the Department of Life Span Developmental Psychology, Chair of the Faculty of Gerontology, and Director of the Institute of Gerontology at the University of Georgia. He is also the director of the Georgia Geriatric Education Center. Dr. Poon is the Principal Investigator of the Georgia Centenarian Study, which was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (1988-1992, 1992-1997) and the National Institute on Aging (2001-2008). He is the founder of the International Centenarian Consortium and has been its since 1994. Aside from his primary interests of functional, cognitive, and behavioral correlates of longevity and adaptation, his research includes normal and pathological changes of memory with age, early detection of dementia, and the impact of exercise and activities on cognitive functions among older adults. Dr. Poon is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, American Psychological Association, American Psychological Society, and the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.
Dr. Thomas Perls, MD, MPH, completed his undergraduate degree in Biology at Pitzer College in Claremont, California. He graduated from the University of Rochester School of Medicine in 1986, followed by internship in internal medicine at Harbor UCLA Medical Center in Torrance, California. He was a Geriatrics Registrar (fellow) at Mount Royal Hospital in Melbourne, Australia. After completing a 3 year Geriatrics Fellowship at Harvard Medical School, he joined the staff at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center where he founded the New England Centenarian Study. He moved to Boston University School of Medicine's Geriatrics Section in 2001 as an Associate Professor. Dr. Perls is board certified in Internal Medicine with special qualifications in Geriatrics and he is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians.
