admin

12/14/09 - Americans may live longer and cost more

Dr. John (Jack) Rowe, chairman of the Center’s external advisory council, comments on research showing government forecasts may have underestimated Americans’ life expectancy. Read the full article in Reuters

12/1/09 - Loneliness Is Contagious: 4 Ways to Stay Connected as You Age

Center on Longevity director Laura L. Carstensen discusses opportunities for people to stay connected as they get older and a note on how they respond to political candidates’ communications. Read the full article in U.S. News and World Report

11/17/09 - Letter to President Obama urging that health reform legislation control costs

Health reform legislation should include provisions to lower costs and reduce long-term deficits, says a letter to President Obama from a group of the nation’s leading health economists, including four Center on Longevity faculty affiliates. “ … we write as economists to stress the potential benefits of health reform for our nation’s fiscal health, and… Read more 11/17/09 - Letter to President Obama urging that health reform legislation control costs

8/18/09 - Putting The Public’s Money Where Its Mouth Is

In a paper published by the journal Health Affairs, Center on Longevity faculty affiliates Daniel Kessler and David Brady describe the results of a 2009 national survey that quantifies Americans’ willingness to pay to expand health insurance coverage. Read the full article in Health Affairs

8/10/09 - Fraud Doesn't Always Happen to Someone Else

Studies of scammers and fraud victims have found some eye-opening trends. Such victims aren’t necessarily uneducated and gullible, or naive seniors. The typical investment-scam victim is an optimistic married man in his later 50s who has a higher-than-average knowledge of financial matters and deep confidence in his own judgment, according to research funded by the… Read more 8/10/09 - Fraud Doesn't Always Happen to Someone Else

8/7/09 - People 'get happier as they age'

Most people get happier as they grow older, studies on people aged up to their mid-90s suggest. Despite worries about ill health, income, changes in social status and bereavements, later life tends to be a golden age, according to psychologists. Read the full story in BBC News

8/7/09 - Except for dementia, even very old people are happier

Among the most praised psychological research in recent years is Stanford professor Laura Carstensen’s work on happiness and aging. Through her studies, Carstensen has found that, contrary to popular opinion that young people are the happiest, people generally become happier as they age. Read the full story in The Los Angeles Times

8/6/09 - Mental health, happiness improve with age, studies say

Aging has its upsides in terms of mental health and happiness, according to researchers speaking at the American Psychological Association meeting here. Two California researchers — in separate presentions — say that mental health improves with age; most people get happier as they get older, and those who are older have more control over their… Read more 8/6/09 - Mental health, happiness improve with age, studies say

7/8/09- Sisters Face Death with Dignity and Reverence

Laura L. Carstensen, the director of the Center on Longevity at Stanford University, says the convent setting calms the tendency for public policy discussion about end-of-life treatment “to devolve into a debate about euthanasia or rationing health care based on age.” Read full story in The New York Times

Dario Riccardo Valenzano

Genetics Project: “Identifying genes regulating longevity” Primary Mentor: Anne Brunet, PhD, Genetics Secondary Mentor: Russ Fernald, PhD, Biological Science Dario R. Valenzano received his BSc and PhD in Neuroscience from Scuola Normale Superiore, Pisa, Italy. During his graduate work, Dr. Valenzano developed a new model system for the study of aging of the shortlived African… Read more Dario Riccardo Valenzano