The Gerontology Research Group (GRG) based in
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world ...
, California, USA, is a global social science organization of researchers in various fields of gerontology, primarily concerned with verifying and recording
supercentenarian
A supercentenarian (sometimes hyphenated as super-centenarian) is a person who has reached the age of 110 years. This age is achieved by about one in 1,000 centenarians. Supercentenarians typically live a life free of major age-related diseases u ...
s status (people who are at least 110 years old) through its
verified oldest people list.
The group endeavors to further gerontology research with a goal of slowing and reversing aging.
History
The GRG was founded in 1990 by
L. Stephen Coles
Leslie Stephen Coles (January 19, 1941 – December 3, 2014) was an American biogerontologist who was the co-founder and executive director of the Gerontology Research Group where he conducted research on supercentenarians and aging. He was also ...
and Stephen M. Kaye.
The original chapter the LA-GRG, holds meetings each month though the organization has members worldwide who meet via online forums.
The GRG verifies supercentenarians (people at least 110 years old or elder) by validating proof-of-age documents.
People that have attained supercentenarian status, are required to supply the organization documents that prove the persons birth date, change of name (if applicable), and date of death (if applicable), along with another piece of official government identification.
Researchers from the GRG then verify that these documents are true and correct and if they are, the claimant is included in the GRG's official tables of supercentenarians.
The GRG also conducts research on aging by interviewing supercentenarians and collecting blood and DNA samples.
The GRG is recognized as an authority on supercentenarians by
Guinness World Records
''Guinness World Records'', known from its inception in 1955 until 1999 as ''The Guinness Book of Records'' and in previous United States editions as ''The Guinness Book of World Records'', is a reference book published annually, listing world ...
and many other organizations.
To 2015, the Gerontology Research Group found proofs of supercentenarian age for more than 1700 persons.
See also
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Gerontology
Gerontology ( ) is the study of the social, cultural, psychological, cognitive, and biological aspects of aging. The word was coined by Ilya Ilyich Mechnikov in 1903, from the Greek , ''geron'', "old man" and , ''-logia'', "study of". The fi ...
*
Longevity
The word " longevity" is sometimes used as a synonym for " life expectancy" in demography. However, the term ''longevity'' is sometimes meant to refer only to especially long-lived members of a population, whereas ''life expectancy'' is always ...
*
Longevity claims
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Longevity myths
Longevity myths are traditions about long-lived people (generally supercentenarians), either as individuals or groups of people, and practices that have been believed to confer longevity, but for which current scientific evidence does not suppo ...
*
New England Centenarian Study
The New England Centenarian Study is a study of persons aged 100 and over (centenarians) in the Boston area.
The study began in 1994 and was originally focused on research into Alzheimer's. However, it soon became apparent that most centenarians d ...
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Oldest people
References
External links
*
* at the site of GRG
{{authority control
Gerontology organizations
Medical and health organizations based in California
Scientific organizations established in 1990
Research institutes established in 1990
Research groups