As a 13-year-old boy, Nir Barzilai would walk with his grandfather and listen to his life story. Barzilai remembers his grandfather looking old – bald with a white ring of hair, obese and slow. His grandfather was the same age Barzilai is today, but looked 20 years older. Today, Dr. Nir Barzilai is a pioneer in longevity and aging research. He founded the Institute for Aging Research at Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and is author of the book “Age Later,” which helps understand “super agers” – people who maintain active lives into their 90s and beyond, and who reach those ages without experiencing cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease or cognitive decline. In the past, Barzilai said people didn’t realize that biology was driving diseases. “It’s not that disease causes us to age. Aging causes the disease. But more importantly, this biology of aging is modifiable. You can target this biology and extend both health span and life span,” he said.
