Program Area: Interdisciplinary

Policy Series: Interdisciplinary Public Policy Discussion Session

Chair(s)

• GT

  George Taffet, MD, FGSA

  Professor
  Medicine
  Baylor College of Medicine
  Houston, Texas, United States

Discussant(s)

• 

  Brian Lindberg, MMHS (he/him/his)

  Public Policy Advisor
  Policy and Professional Affairs
  The Gerontological Society of America
  Washington, District of Columbia, United States

Panelist(s)

• VP

  Viviana Perez, PhD

  Program Officer
  NIA
  Bethesda, Maryland, United States
• RF

  Richard Fortinsky, PhD, FGSA

  Professor and Health Net, Inc. Endowed Chair in Geriatrics and Gerontology
  Medicine
  University of Connecticut Center on Aging
  Farmington, Connecticut, United States
• GT

  George Taffet, MD, FGSA

  Professor
  Medicine
  Baylor College of Medicine
  Houston, Texas, United States
• DB

  Dana Bradley, PhD, FAGHE, FGSA

  Dean
  Erickson School of Aging Studies
  University of Maryland, Baltimore County
  Baltimore, Maryland, United States
• 

  Shannon Jarrott, PhD, FGSA

  Professor
  Social Work
  The Ohio State University
  Columbus, Ohio, United States
• 

  John Batsis, MD, FGSA

  Associate Professor
  Medicine/Geriatrics
  University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
  Chapel Hill, North Carolina, United States

Treatments targeting aging and extending healthy life expectancy by just 1 year could be worth trillions of dollars in economic gains. This interaction between health, longevity, economic decisions, and demographics has created a virtuous cycle, wherein the more successful society is in improving how we age, the greater the economic value of further improvements. The growing emphasis on and progress in extending biological and “healthy” aging raises several important questions for health scientists and economists alike. Is it preferable to make lives healthier by compressing morbidity, or to make lives longer by extending life? What are the gains from targeting aging itself compared with efforts to eradicate specific diseases? This interactive session, organized by the GSA Public Policy Advisory Panel, is an interdisciplinary look at the emerging field of Geroscience and the public policy impacts of delaying aging. The panelists represent the six sections of GSA, ESPO, BS, BSS, SRPP, HS, and AGHE.