Director, Okinawa Research Center for Longevity Science
Principal Investigator, Okinawa Centenarian Study
Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus
MAKOTO SUZUKI
Makoto Suzuki MD, PhD is a clinical cardiologist and geriatrician. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of the Ryukyus. From 1976 to 1999, he served as the Director of the Department of the Community Medical Service in the Ryukyu University Hospital and was the Chief Director of the Comprehensive Medicine Research Center at the University of the Ryukyus. In 2005, he retired from his position as Professor in the Department of Human Welfare at Okinawa International University. Currently, he directs the Okinawa Research Center for Longevity Science and is the Principle Investigator of the Okinawa Centenarian Study.
In 1976, Dr. Suzuki started the Living Centenarian Study supported by funding from the Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. He has visited local residences, mostly homes, for nearly 1,000 centenarians and thousands of younger elders in their seventies, eighties, and nineties. He has clinically examined each individual directly with his own naked eyes.
Dr. Suzuki has over 300 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals and his total publications number over 700 including scientific manuscripts, conference proceedings, books such as “The Centenarians,” “The Centenarians Science,” “Japanese Centenarians,” and book chapters in an aging and health, especially centenarians research. In 1981, he organized the International 100 Club in Hamburg, Germany. This became the first international multidisciplinary cooperative research group of centenarians. As the first scientist to make a comprehensive study of Okinawan longevity, he organized a conference in 1995 in which the Director of the World Health Organization supported the proclamation of Okinawa as a World Longevity Region.
In 1998, Dr. Suzuki was presented with the Nishinippon News Award to recognize his lifetime contributions to health and wellbeing in Japan.
Director, Okinawa Research Center for Longevity Science
Principal Investigator, Okinawa Centenarian Study
Professor Emeritus, Faculty of Medicine, University of the Ryukyus
MAKOTO SUZUKI
Makoto Suzuki MD, PhD is a clinical cardiologist and geriatrician. He is Professor Emeritus at the University of the Ryukyus. From 1976 to 1999, he served as the Director of the Department of the Community Medical Service in the Ryukyu University Hospital and was the Chief Director of the Comprehensive Medicine Research Center at the University of the Ryukyus. In 2005, he retired from his position as Professor in the Department of Human Welfare at Okinawa International University. Currently, he directs the Okinawa Research Center for Longevity Science and is the Principle Investigator of the Okinawa Centenarian Study.
In 1976, Dr. Suzuki started the Living Centenarian Study supported by funding from the Japan Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare. He has visited local residences, mostly homes, for nearly 1,000 centenarians and thousands of younger elders in their seventies, eighties, and nineties. He has clinically examined each individual directly with his own naked eyes.
Dr. Suzuki has over 300 scientific publications in peer-reviewed journals and his total publications number over 700 including scientific manuscripts, conference proceedings, books such as “The Centenarians,” “The Centenarians Science,” “Japanese Centenarians,” and book chapters in an aging and health, especially centenarians research. In 1981, he organized the International 100 Club in Hamburg, Germany. This became the first international multidisciplinary cooperative research group of centenarians. As the first scientist to make a comprehensive study of Okinawan longevity, he organized a conference in 1995 in which the Director of the World Health Organization supported the proclamation of Okinawa as a World Longevity Region.
In 1998, Dr. Suzuki was presented with the Nishinippon News Award to recognize his lifetime contributions to health and wellbeing in Japan.
Co-Principal Investigator, Okinawa Centenarian Study
Chair and Professor of Public Health and Gerontology, Department of Human Welfare, Okinawa International University
Adjunct Professor of Geriatric Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa
Fellow, The Gerontological Society of America
D. CRAIG WILLCOX
Craig Willcox PhD, MHSc, FGSA has been studying genetic and lifestyle factors associated with healthy aging and longevity for over two decades and has successfully established numerous cross-national research collaborations through the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Aging and projects supported by national funding agencies in Japan, such as the Japan Society for Promotion of Sciences, among other sources. He currently serves as Co-Principal Investigator of the Okinawa Centenarian Study and Head of the Okinawa Research Center for Longevity Science R&D, as well as a co-investigator or consultant for several ancillary R-01 funded studies of aging from the Kuakini Honolulu Heart Program. These include the Kuakini Hawaii LIFESPAN and HEALTHSPAN Studies.
Dr. Willcox is a fluent speaker of Japanese and has extensive research experience in bio-cultural approaches to healthy aging including, anthropological, epidemiological, and nutritional, with further experience in human population genetics and the study of gene-environment interactions. The team that he manages in Okinawa has over 40 years of experience in geriatrics and gerontology research and his team in Hawaii recently celebrated a half century since the inception of the Honolulu Heart Program and has been a leader in establishing the field of genetic epidemiology. His team in Okinawa reported the first longevity-associated gene variants in humans (Takata et al., Lancet 1987 PMID: 2889033) and his team in Hawaii discovered that the human homolog (FOXO3) of the nematode daf-16 gene also strongly impacts human longevity (Willcox et al., PNAS, 2008 PMID: 18765803).
Dr. Willcox has also been an invited participant at numerous international meetings that have focused upon identifying priorities in aging research such as the FUTURAGE workshop (Roadmap for Aging Research in the EU), and contributes as Associate Editor to numerous journals devoted to research on aging, such as Journals of Gerontology: Biological and Medical Sciences, Gerontology, BMC Geriatrics, Rejuvenation Research, Journal of Cross Cultural Gerontology, Nutrition and Aging, and the recently established Nature partner journal npj Mechanisms of Aging and Disease, among others. Recently, he guest edited a special issue on centenarian studies and their contribution to our understanding of the aging process and longevity that was published in Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research. He has several nominations for Who’s Who in Healthcare and Medicine in the past few years and co-authored two best-selling books (The Okinawa Program and The Okinawa Diet Plan) on healthy aging that translate his research findings into practical public health programs. The Okinawa Program was nominated for “Best Wellness Book of the Year” by “Books for a Better Life” and received further honors from both Amazon.com and Barnes and Nobles as one of their Top Fifty Books of the Year for 2001. He also consults regularly for industry, having recently consulted for Chanel, VHI Healthcare (largest private health provider in Ireland), Amway (Nutrilite) and other well-known leaders in product development that promotes healthy aging. His work has appeared in cover articles of National Geographic, Newsweek, Time Magazine, and on Oprah, CNN, MSNBC, Good Morning America, NOVA Science, BBC, among other media.
Co-Principal Investigator, Okinawa Centenarian Study
Chair and Professor of Public Health and Gerontology, Department of Human Welfare, Okinawa International University
Adjunct Professor of Geriatric Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa
Fellow, The Gerontological Society of America
Co-Principal Investigator, Okinawa Centenarian Study
Chair and Professor of Public Health and Gerontology, Department of Human Welfare, Okinawa International University
Adjunct Professor of Geriatric Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa
Fellow, The Gerontological Society of America
D. CRAIG WILLCOX
Craig Willcox PhD, MHSc, FGSA has been studying genetic and lifestyle factors associated with healthy aging and longevity for over two decades and has successfully established numerous cross-national research collaborations through the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute on Aging and projects supported by national funding agencies in Japan, such as the Japan Society for Promotion of Sciences, among other sources. He currently serves as Co-Principal Investigator of the Okinawa Centenarian Study and Head of the Okinawa Research Center for Longevity Science R&D, as well as a co-investigator or consultant for several ancillary R-01 funded studies of aging from the Kuakini Honolulu Heart Program. These include the Kuakini Hawaii LIFESPAN and HEALTHSPAN Studies.
Dr. Willcox is a fluent speaker of Japanese and has extensive research experience in bio-cultural approaches to healthy aging including, anthropological, epidemiological, and nutritional, with further experience in human population genetics and the study of gene-environment interactions. The team that he manages in Okinawa has over 40 years of experience in geriatrics and gerontology research and his team in Hawaii recently celebrated a half century since the inception of the Honolulu Heart Program and has been a leader in establishing the field of genetic epidemiology. His team in Okinawa reported the first longevity-associated gene variants in humans (Takata et al., Lancet 1987 PMID: 2889033) and his team in Hawaii discovered that the human homolog (FOXO3) of the nematode daf-16 gene also strongly impacts human longevity (Willcox et al., PNAS, 2008 PMID: 18765803).
Dr. Willcox has also been an invited participant at numerous international meetings that have focused upon identifying priorities in aging research such as the FUTURAGE workshop (Roadmap for Aging Research in the EU), and contributes as Associate Editor to numerous journals devoted to research on aging, such as Journals of Gerontology: Biological and Medical Sciences, Gerontology, BMC Geriatrics, Rejuvenation Research, Journal of Cross Cultural Gerontology, Nutrition and Aging, and the recently established Nature partner journal npj Mechanisms of Aging and Disease, among others. Recently, he guest edited a special issue on centenarian studies and their contribution to our understanding of the aging process and longevity that was published in Current Gerontology and Geriatrics Research. He has several nominations for Who’s Who in Healthcare and Medicine in the past few years and co-authored two best-selling books (The Okinawa Program and The Okinawa Diet Plan) on healthy aging that translate his research findings into practical public health programs. The Okinawa Program was nominated for “Best Wellness Book of the Year” by “Books for a Better Life” and received further honors from both Amazon.com and Barnes and Nobles as one of their Top Fifty Books of the Year for 2001. He also consults regularly for industry, having recently consulted for Chanel, VHI Healthcare (largest private health provider in Ireland), Amway (Nutrilite) and other well-known leaders in product development that promotes healthy aging. His work has appeared in cover articles of National Geographic, Newsweek, Time Magazine, and on Oprah, CNN, MSNBC, Good Morning America, NOVA Science, BBC, among other media.
Co-Principal Investigator, Okinawa Centenarian Study
Principal Investigator, Hawaii LIFESPAN and HEALTHSPAN Studies, Honolulu Heart Program
Professor and Director of Research, Department of Geriatric Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa
Fellow, The Gerontological Society of America
BRADLEY WILLCOX
Bradley Willcox MD, MSc, FGSA is an internationally recognized expert in healthy aging with training in geriatrics and gerontology.
Dr. Willcox trained in Medicine at the University of Toronto, Internal Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, and Geriatric Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is Principal Investigator of the National Institute on Aging-funded Hawaii LIFESPAN and HEALTHSPAN Studies and a Honolulu Heart Program researcher at Kuakini Medical Center. Dr. Willcox is also Co-Principal Investigator of the Okinawa Centenarian Study and a researcher at the Pacific Health Research and Education Institute of the VA Pacific Islands Health Care System in Honolulu.
Dr. Willcox completed a Bachelor of Science (General Sciences) and Master of Science (Neuroscience) at the University of Calgary. He trained in Medicine at the University of Toronto, Internal Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, and Geriatric Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He completed further training in Genetic Epidemiology funded by the U.S. National Institute on Aging (NIA). He is Principal Investigator (PI) of the NIA-funded Hawaii Lifespan and Healthspan Studies at Kuakini Medical Center, where is PI and Director of the NIGMS-funded Kuakini HHP Center for Translational Research on Aging. Dr. Willcox is also a longstanding Co-Principal Investigator of the Okinawa Centenarian Study and a researcher at the Pacific Health Research and Education Institute of the VA Pacific Islands Health Care System in Honolulu.
Co-Principal Investigator, Okinawa Centenarian Study
Principal Investigator, Hawaii LIFESPAN and HEALTHSPAN Studies, Honolulu Heart Program
Professor and Director of Research, Department of Geriatric Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawai‘i at Manoa
Fellow, The Gerontological Society of America
BRADLEY WILLCOX
Bradley Willcox MD, MSc, FGSA is an internationally recognized expert in healthy aging with training in geriatrics and gerontology.
Dr. Willcox trained in Medicine at the University of Toronto, Internal Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, and Geriatric Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He is Principal Investigator of the National Institute on Aging-funded Hawaii LIFESPAN and HEALTHSPAN Studies and a Honolulu Heart Program researcher at Kuakini Medical Center. Dr. Willcox is also Co-Principal Investigator of the Okinawa Centenarian Study and a researcher at the Pacific Health Research and Education Institute of the VA Pacific Islands Health Care System in Honolulu.
Dr. Willcox completed a Bachelor of Science (General Sciences) and Master of Science (Neuroscience) at the University of Calgary. He trained in Medicine at the University of Toronto, Internal Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, and Geriatric Medicine at Harvard Medical School. He completed further training in Genetic Epidemiology funded by the U.S. National Institute on Aging (NIA). He is Principal Investigator (PI) of the NIA-funded Hawaii Lifespan and Healthspan Studies at Kuakini Medical Center, where is PI and Director of the NIGMS-funded Kuakini HHP Center for Translational Research on Aging. Dr. Willcox is also a longstanding Co-Principal Investigator of the Okinawa Centenarian Study and a researcher at the Pacific Health Research and Education Institute of the VA Pacific Islands Health Care System in Honolulu.