About the Editors
Contributors Preface
Acknowledgmentsx`

1. The Trials and Tribulations of Studying the Oldest Old, Leonard W. Poon and Thomas T. Perls

Section I: Biomedical

2. Aging: A Genetic Balancing Act, Jan Vijg and Yousin Suh
3. The Promise of Human Lifespan Extension, Preston W. Estep III
4. The Familiality of Exceptional Longevity, Thomas T. Perls
5. Centenarian Offspring: A Model of Successful Aging, Dellara F. Terry

Section II: Psychosocial

6. Personality and Coping Among Centenarians, Peter Martin
7. Social Support for Centenarians' Health, Psychological Well-Being, and Longevity, Maurice MacDonald
8. Cognitive Function of Centenarians and its Influence on Longevity, Yasuyuki Gondo and Leonard W. Poon

Section III: Methodology

9. Extreme Longevity and Data Quality, Jean-Marie Robine
10. Living Past 100 Years: Perspectives from Anthropology of Longevity, Kyung-Soo Chun
11. Developing Models of Longevity, Bo Hagberg
12. Methodological Considerations in Studying Centenarians: Lessons Learned from the Georgia Centenarian Studies, Leonard W. Poon et al.

Index

Leonard W. Poon, PhD, DPhil, hc, is rofessor of public health in the Department of Health Policy and Management, professor of psychology in the Department of Life Span Developmental Psychology, chair of the faculty of gerontology, and director of the Institute of Gerontology at the University of Georgia. He is also the director of the Georgia Geriatric Education Center. Dr. Poon is the principal investigator of the Georgia Centenarian Study, which was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health (1988-1992, 1992-1997) and the National Institute on Aging (2001-2008). He is the founder, and has been executive director, of the International Centenarian Consortium. since 1994. Dr. Poon is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America, the American Psychological Association, the American Psychological Society, and the Association for Gerontology in Higher Education.

Dr. Thomas Perls, MD, MPH, graduated from the University of Rochester School of Medicine in 1986. After completing a 3-year geriatrics fellowship at Harvard Medical School, he joined the staff at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, where he founded the New England Centenarian Study. He moved to the Boston University School of Medicine's Geriatrics Section in 2001 as an associate professor. Dr. Perls is board certified in internal medicine with special qualifications in geriatrics and he is a fellow of the American College of Physicians.

Now in its twelfth year, and funded by the National Institute on Aging, the New England Centenarian Study is the largest genetic and social study of centenarians and their families in the world (www.bumc.bu.edu/centenarian). Dr. Perls also has an interest in antiaging quackery and publishes the website www.antiagingquackery.com. Another website that Dr. Perls is responsible for is www.Livingto100.com which hosts a life expectancy quiz based upon work that is discussed in his book Living to 100: Lessons in Maximizing Your Potential At Any Age (1999).