Lessons in Lifespan Health

Reggie Tucker-Seeley, the Edward L. Schneider Chair in gerontology and an assistant professor at the USC Leonard Davis School is joined by his colleague, Jhumpka Gupta, an associate professor in the global and community health department at George Mason University. The two discuss issues of racism and hate and the implications for health across the life course. Selected quotes: Reggie Tucker-Seele...

Donna Benton, research associate professor and director of the USC Family Caregiver Support Center, joins Professor George Shannon to discuss the challenges faced by family caregivers during the coronavirus pandemic and how they can be addressed at individual, community, state, and national levels. Here are some highlights of what she said: On who is a caregiver "Rosalyn Carter who was the wife of...

Dr. Pinchas Cohen, USC Leonard Davis School dean and a professor of gerontology, medicine and biological sciences joins Chief Communications Officer Orli Belman in a conversation about COVID-19 risk factors and research directions, with a focus on how research focused on delaying aging processes holds promise for improving outcomes for older adults. On the relationship between age and mortality ra...

Throughout his career, Dr. Tyler Evans '02 has been on the front lines of major disease outbreaks around the globe. He was in South Africa at the height of the AIDS crisis and he treated Ebola patients in Sierra Leone. He just joined the New York City Emergency Management Department as the chief medical officer for the COVID-19 branch. The USC Leonard Davis School "Impact Maker" joined Professor J...

Cary Kreutzer, associate professor of gerontology and pediatrics and the director of the USC Leonard Davis School's master of science degree program in Nutrition Healthspan and Longevity, joins Chief Communications Officer Orli Belman in a conversation about how to eat healthy, shop smart, reduce stress and stay connected through food as we practice social isolation due to the Covid-19 virus. Cary...

Sean Curran , the Associate Dean of Research at the USC Leonard Davis School and an Associate Professor of Gerontology and Molecular and Computational Biology, joins Professor Geroge Shannon in a conversation about his research toward generating b lueprints that can allow an individual to maximize health over the course of their lifespan. Informed by genetics, he is developing the capacity to pred...

Paul Irving, chairman of the Center for the Future of Aging at the Milken Institute and distinguished scholar in residence at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, joins Professor George Shannon in a conversation that sheds light on the need to prepare for growing older, reasons to resist retiring, the value of volunteering and other opportunities of aging. Paul Irving quotes from this epis...

Mara Mather, Professor of Gerontology and Psychology at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, is shedding light on how we learn, what we remember, and where we might find clues to slowing the progression of Alzheimer's disease. Quotes from this episode: "What is it that you remember? The things that you remember are typically the things that were really emotional in your life that mattered...

Bérénice Benayoun, Assistant Professor of Gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, is advancing what we know about how cells age, and how they can possibly be returned to a more youthful state, by focusing on areas that have historically been overlooked. Quotes from this episode:  The reason it's so powerful is because we can recapitulate most of what you expect from aging in th...

Dana Goldman, USC Distinguished Professor in public policy, pharmacy, and economics and director of the Schaeffer Center for Health Policy & Economics at the USC Price School of Public Policy, is working to improve health – and reduce spending - by calling for policy changes that reward prevention, innovation and long-term investments in people of all ages. "I'm a little concerned that in the curr...

Christian Pike, Professor of Gerontology at the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, discusses his research on sex differences in Alzheimer's disease and how they can help inform how we might one day prevent and treat it. Quotes from this episode … Maybe there are situations where the disease, although it's the same disease, it works a little bit different in men than it does women. And maybe...

Dr. Laura Mosqueda, Dean and Professor at the Keck School of Medicine of USC, is raising awareness about the issue of elder abuse and shaping how it is addressed in medical schools, clinics and the national conversation.  Quotes from this episode "Whenever an older adult comes into an emergency room or a primary care office with some sort of injury or wound, we almost always can find a reason othe...

USC University Professor Caleb Finch is working to understand the relationships between aging, genes and the environment through his studies of ancient mummies and premodern societies. Quotes from this episode How people in ancient times may have had heart disease, currently the world's leading cause of death:  "The oldest individual may be the Tyrolean iceman, Ötzi, as he's called, who is... 3000...

Inspired by a mentor's extreme experiments with caloric restriction, USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology Professor Valter Longo explores how fasting-mimicking diets might help prevent disease, promote healthy aging, and prolong our ability to stay young. Quotes from this episode Longo's ambitious goal for human longevity "I want to optimize the chance for people to make it to 110 healthy. That...

Demographer and USC University Professor Eileen Crimmins researches how and why American lifespans are now falling short of those in other wealthy nations and what the science of biomarkers can tell us about healthy aging.  Quotes from this episode On the U.S.'s slide in life expectancy: "Over the last century, the US gained markedly in life expectancy and practically doubled from approximately 40...

Join experts on aging from the University of Southern California for a podcast about the science -- and scientists -- improving how long and how well we live. Learn more at lifespanhealth.usc.edu.