Exceptional Longevity Research

Dr. Thomas Perls founded the New England Centenarian Study at Harvard University in 1994. In 2002, he and his colleagues moved to Boston University to continue their work. There are now three on-going studies at BU: The Genetics of Longevity Study, The Genetics of Longevity Study: Offspring Study, and, The Genetics of Longevity Study: Neuropsychological Study.

"The New England Centenarian Study (NECS) is based on our conviction that centenarians are a select group of people who have a history of aging relatively slowly and who have either markedly delayed or entirely escaped diseases normally associated with aging such as Alzheimer's disease, cancer, stroke and heart disease."

Dr. Lindsay Farrer directs the genetic research associated with the NES which is based in the Genetics Program in the Department of Medicine at BUMS. More information about the research can be found on the study webpage: http://www.bumc.bu.edu/centenarian.