Leaders in Research
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| Thomas T. Perls, MD, MPH Associate Professor of Medicine Section of Gerontology Boston University School of Medicine
Dr. Perls is a physician and researcher in the study of aging at Boston University School of Medicine. As Associate Professor in Medicine and a Geriatrician he cares for older patients at Boston Medical Center. Since he first discovered that his centenarian patients were among his healthiest, Dr. Perls has become regarded as one of the world’s experts studying these exceptional human beings. For the past eight years he has directed the New England Centenarian Study. Findings from the study are presented in his award-winning book, Living to 100, Lessons in Maximizing Your Potential At Any Age, published in April, 1999 by Basic Books. The study receives funding from the National Institute on Aging, The Institute for the Study of Aging, The Alzheimer’s Association and the Ellison Medical Foundation. The study has documented that centenarians have a history of aging relatively slowly and have either markedly delayed or entirely escaped diseases normally associated with aging such as Alzheimer's disease, cancer, stroke and heart disease. Centenarians represent a new paradigm of thinking about aging: The older you get, the healthier you’ve been. Centenarians and Dr. Perls teach us that many years beyond sixty can be healthy ones filled with good health, new possibilities and vast potential. The New England Centenarian Study is now focusing on the discovery of potentially a few key genes that play crucial roles in how we age and our susceptibility to diseases associated with aging. It is this genetics work that prompted USA Today to highlight Dr. Perls in their “people to Watch in 2001” series that appeared last December. With multiple publications and speaking engagements around the country, Dr. Perls, the centenarians and their families have garnered a great deal of media attention including appearances on The Today Show, Oprah!, Dateline, Good Morning America, the Nightly News programs, and National Public Radio. | |
| Primary Research (for Beeson Program): Genetics of Longevity
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Thomas T. Perls, M.D., M.P .H.