On January 9th, 2025, Newsweek published an article about former President Jimmy Carter's extraordinary longevity featuring AFAR Scientific Director and Inaugural George M. Martin Award winner Steven N. Austad, PhD, AFAR Grantee and Cristofalo Award winner Valter Longo, PhD, and Wright Award winner S. Jay Olshansky, PhD. The experts provided insights into the likelihood that other former presidents could share in President Carter's exceptional longevity.
Dr. Austad and Dr. Olshansky drew on their own research on life extension. Dr. Longo emphasized that while genetics have a significant impact on longevity, lifestyle interventions can help to extend healthspan and delay age-related diseases.
In addition to being AFAR’s Scientific Director, Dr. Austad is the 2011 Irving S. Wright Award of Distinction winner and the Inaugural George M. Martin Award winner. He is also a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Biology at the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the founding director of UAB’s Nathan Shock Center of Excellence in the Basic Biology of Aging, and co-director of the UAB Integrative Center for Aging Research, as well as the Co-Principal Investigator of the Nathan Shock Centers Coordinating Center.
Dr. Olshansky is the 2016 Irving S. Wright Award of Distinction winner, a Professor in the School of Public Health at the University of Illinois at Chicago, a Research Associate at the Center on Aging at the University of Chicago and at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, as well as the Co-Founder and Chief Scientist at Lapetus Solutions, Inc.
Dr. Longo is a 1998 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research and AFAR Grants for Junior Faculty recipient, as well as the 2013 Vincent Cristofalo Rising Star Award in Aging Research winner. He is also the Edna M. Jones Professor of Gerontology and Biological Sciences and Director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California.
Also picked up by MSN, read the article, “Can Any Ex-President Break Jimmy Carter's Longevity Record?” here.
