The purpose of our studies:
 
• to understand the mechanisms of aging and longevity in order
• to extend healthy and productive human lifespan.

Table of Contents:

• Who we are



• What we have found and published



• Who supported our studies



• Useful links and resources



• Why do we believe that the scientific breakthrough in longevity studies is possible



• Our response to skeptics



• Our forthcoming and past presentations (including abstracts)



• Our invited presentations



• Media coverage of our studies



• Classics of longevity studies 



• Russian studies: Russian health, mortality and lifespan

Who we are:

Dr. Leonid A. Gavrilov

E-mail: 

 Dr. Natalia S. Gavrilova
  Center on Aging
  NORC/University of Chicago
  1155 East 60th Street
  Chicago, IL 60637-2745
  Fax: (773) 256-6313
  Phone: (773) 256-6359
  E-mail: 
  Brief Biographical Sketch, NIH Biosketch
  Detailed  Curriculum Vitae
  Expertise Profile: http://myprofile.cos.com/gavrilova
  Statement of Research Interests
 
 

Our collaborators in Russia are:
Galina N. Evdokushkina , M.Sc.,  and  Dr. Victoria G. Semyonova .

We also maintain close scientific contacts with
Dr. Bruce A. Carnes   at the University of Oklahoma.
Dr. Yulia Kushnareva at Burnham Institute, La Jolla, CA
 

What  we  have  found  and  published:
 
 

Our most important publications are:

 

Available at:

 

 

SEASON OF BIRTH  AND  HUMAN LONGEVITY Journal of Anti-Aging Medicine, 1999, 2(4): 365-366. To download full text click here For Media coverage click here HUMAN LONGEVITY  AND  PARENTAL AGE  AT CONCEPTION In: Sex and Longevity . Springer-Verlag, Berlin, 2000, pp.7-31. To download full text click here EPIDEMIOLOGY  OF  HUMAN LONGEVITY:  THE  SEARCH  FOR  APPROPRIATE  METHODOLOGY Journal of Anti-Aging Medicine, 2001, 4(1): 13-30. To download full text click here BIODEMOGRAPHIC STUDY  OF  FAMILIAL DETERMINANTS  OF  HUMAN LONGEVITY Population: An English Selection, 2001, 13(1): 197-222. To download full text click here WHEN  DOES  HUMAN LONGEVITY  START?: DEMARCATION  OF  THE  BOUNDARIES  FOR  HUMAN LONGEVITY Journal of Anti-Aging Medicine, 2001, 4(2): 115-124. Abstract To download full text click here THE  RELIABILITY THEORY  OF  AGING  AND  LONGEVITY Journal of Theoretical Biology, 2001, 213(4): 527-545.  Abstract To download full text click here For Press Release click here For Media Coverage click here EVOLUTIONARY THEORIES  OF  AGING  AND  LONGEVITY TheScientificWorldJOURNAL, 2002, 2: 339-356.  To download full text in pdf format click  here To download full text in HTML format click  here THE  QUEST  FOR  A GENERAL  THEORY  OF  AGING AND  LONGEVITY Science's SAGE KE (SCIENCE of  AGING KNOWLEDGE ENVIRONMENT ) for 16 July 2003; Vol. 2003, No. 28 http://sageke.sciencemag.org To download full text as pdf file click here Abstract, full text EARLY-LIFE  PREDICTORS  OF  HUMAN  LONGEVITY: ANALYSIS  OF  THE  19TH  CENTURY  BIRTH  COHORTS Annales de Demographie Historique, 2003, 2: 177-198. To download full text click  here DOES  EXCEPTIONAL  HUMAN  LONGEVITY  COME  WITH HIGH  COST  OF  INFERTILITY?   TESTING  THE EVOLUTIONARY  THEORIES  OF  AGING Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2004, 1019: 513-517. To download full text click  here EARLY-LIFE  PROGRAMMING  OF  AGING  AND  LONGEVITY:  THE  IDEA  OF  HIGH  INITIAL  DAMAGE  LOAD  (THE  HIDL  HYPOTHESIS) Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2004, 1019: 496-501. To download full text click  here THE  RELIABILITY-ENGINEERING  APPROACH  TO  THE PROBLEM  OF  BIOLOGICAL  AGING Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, 2004, 1019: 509-512. To download full text click  here WHY  WE  FALL  APART.   ENGINEERING'S  RELIABILITY THEORY  EXPLAINS  HUMAN  AGING IEEE Spectrum, 2004, 41(9): 30-35. To download full text click  here

For more detailed list of our published findings please click here

For more publications available for downloading please click here

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Who  supported  our  studies:

We would like to acknowledge the financial support for our research work provided by:

• National Institute on Aging (3 NIA grants)

• International Science Foundation ('Soros Foundation', 4 research grants)

• European Union (INTAS grant )

• Civilian Research and Development Foundation (CRDF grant)

• People like you (private persons and organizations)

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We would also like to acknowledge the important moral support for our research work (strong letters of recommendation, encouraging published reviews of our work, etc.) provided by:

• James R. Carey , University of California, Davis
• Brian Charlesworth , University of Edinburgh, UK
• Nicholas Christakis ,  now at Harvard Medical School
• James F. Crow , Laboratory of Genetics, University of Wisconsin, Madison
• Caleb E. Finch , University of Southern California
• Thomas E. Johnson , University of Colorado at Boulder
• Nathan Keyfitz , IIASA, Austria (now retired in USA)
• George M. Martin , University of Washington, Seattle
• George S. Roth , Gerontology Research Center, NIA, Baltimore
• Marc Tatar, Brown University, Providence
• James N. Thompson , Department of Zoology, U of Oklahoma
• Roy L. Walford ,  former UCLA Professor
  
• Ronald C. Woodruff , Bowling Green State University, Ohio
• F. Eugene Yates, University of California, Los Angeles

and other researchers, mentioned here

Finally, we would like to acknowledge stimulating working environment at the Center on Aging , NORC/University of Chicago that allows us to conduct our research.  We are particularly grateful to Linda J. Waite and William L. Parish for their support of our studies at the Center on Aging.

If  you  would  like  to  support  our  studies,  please  contact  us  at:

gavrilov[at]longevity-science.org

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Useful Links  and  Resources:
 

• We teach the following course (219/319) at the University of Chicago:

"Biodemography of Human Mortality and Longevity"

For syllabus of this course please click here .

• For Data Resources to study human longevity click here .

• Media Coverage:  Feature stories about our scientific findings are published in Science, The Scientist, The New York Times, Sunday Times London, The Guardian (UK), Reuters, The Independent (London)   and in a dozen of other editions listed here.

• Additional links 
  

• Websites that link to us

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Why  do  we  believe  that  the  scientific  breakthrough  in  longevity  studies  is  possible 

Short Answer:

Numerous studies demonstrate that many manifestations of aging can be postponed or even reversed, and that lifespan can be significantly extended in experimental animals.  Moreover, our own studies found remarkable plasticity of human longevity (see above), and suggest that there may be a significant potential for further extension of human lifespan.

Supporting citation from Nature (2000, vol.408, p.261):
"The field of ageing research has been completely transformed in the past decade. … When single genes are changed, animals that should be old stay young.  In humans, these mutants would be analogous to a ninety year old who looks and feels forty-five.  On this basis we begin to think of ageing as a disease that can be cured, or at least postponed. … The field of ageing is beginning to explode, because so many are so excited about the prospect of searching for -- and finding -- the causes of ageing, and maybe even the fountain of youth itself."
Cited from: Guarente, L., and Kenyon, C. (2000) Genetic pathways that regulate ageing in model organisms. Nature 408, 255-262.
 

More Detailed Answer: 

For example, if we convince ourselves and the public that nothing could be done and/or should be done with aging ("tampering with aging"), the outcome is clear.  On the other hand, commitment of this nation already made possible several fantastic projects in the past (like the flight to the Moon), so why should we consider this generation less capable to great achievements?

We believe that the main challenge for accomplishing the life extension revolution is the mobilization of the nation and public support  for relevant research projects. From this perspective, the recent attempts to discredit anti-aging research efforts and to present them as a kind of scientific porn should be taken very seriously and, in our opinion, these attempts should not to be endorsed.  Moreover, we suggest to establish the Anti-Aging Science Award in order to stimulate legitimate anti-aging scientific studies and public support for them.