The Life Project #427

June 23, 2017

This week we're diving deep into the history and current state of some of the largest and longest running studies in the world. We speak with science journalist, Chief Magazine Editor for Nature, and author Helen Pearson about her book "The Life Project: The Extraordinary Story of 70,000 Ordinary Lives" and the history of the long-running series of British longitudinal cohort studies. And we'll talk with Professor Parminder Raina about the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging an what it's like to be at the beginning of a cohort study that could run for decades.

Guests:

  • Helen Pearson
  • Parminder Raina

Guest Bios

Helen Pearson

Helen Pearson is a science journalist, author, and Chief Magazine Editor for the world’s leading science journal, Nature. She has won the 2010 Wistar Institute Science Journalism Award and two best feature awards from the Association of British Science Writers for her writing. Her recent book "The Life Project: The Extraordinary Story of 70,000 Ordinary Lives" was named best science book of the year by The Observer, was a book of the year for The Economist, and has been longlisted for the Orwell Prize.

Parminder Raina

Professor Parminder Raina is a Professor in the Department of Health Research Methods, Evaluation and Impact at McMaster University. He is also the Tier One Canada Research Chair in Geroscience, the inaugural Scientific Director of the McMaster Institute for Research on Aging and Labarge Centre for Mobility in Aging, and is the principle investigator of the Canadian Longitudinal Study on Aging.