Indiana University School of Public Health-Bloomington (SPH-B) Dean David Allison was recently inducted into the Academy for Health & Lifespan Research, a non-profit global organization comprised of highly skilled researchers and scientists to study the biological process of aging and opportunities to increase longevity.
In a recent conversation, Dean Allison explained that the Academy seeks to go "beyond the mundane and conduct groundbreaking, eye-opening, mind-opening and field-opening studies we need to advance this topic" while working alongside some of the best and brightest minds specializing in the field of geroscience, defined by the National Institute on Aging (NIA) as "the intersection of basic aging biology, chronic disease, and health."
"We are all as individuals aging, and we want the best for ourselves and our friends and families. Our society is also aging with an ever-greater proportion of persons being older,” he says. "In this light, it is a true honor and privilege to be inducted into this highly selective and prestigious academy."
Geroscience, Dean Allison elaborates, is a "renaming" of the more traditional field of gerontology to reflect the cutting-edge discoveries taking place in longevity—thanks to the work of the Academy through its founders and members.
"All of us want to enjoy life and not just live life. We want to make it into our later years in sufficient health so we can function…How can we get there? How can we live lives that are ever longer and yet also ever more helpful and not have extended periods of disability, morbidity, or loss of independence?" asks Dean Allison. "Geroscience is at a wonderful point where new findings are popping daily. New ideas are emerging on the horizon."
The Academy for Health & Lifespan Research was founded in 2019 and is the first global non-profit group focused on the expansion of human health and lifespan. Dean Allison’s affiliation with this high-profile research organization is one of the many reasons IU is leading the way among top public health schools nationwide.