What do nuns have to do with understanding aging? A lot, according to renowned author and epidemiologist David Snowdon, Ph.D., this year’s keynote speaker for the Center for Aging’s Fourth Annual Friedman Lecture.
The lecture and an update on the center’s activities will be from 9 a.m.-noon May 18 in Brown Hall Auditorium.
Snowdon has studied 678 women from the School Sisters of Notre Dame. Each gave him unprecedented access to personal and medical histories and pledged to donate her brain to his research.
It is the largest pool of brain donors in the world, and information gleaned from this population has led to key discoveries on living productive, healthy lives well into old age.
Findings from the “nun study” have appeared in several prestigious scientific journals, including the Journal of the American Medical Association, and have been featured in national media outlets including The New York Times and NBC’s Today show. In 2001, Snowdon published Aging With Grace, a book about his experiences.
The event is free and open to the public. For more information, go online to wucfa.wustl.edu.