USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology

WBZ NightSide With Dan Rea interviewed Bérénice Benayoun on the possible biological reasons why women live longer than men on average. “We know that in controlled conditions, being male is a detriment to a long lifespan.”
https://wbznewsradio.iheart.com/featured/nightside-with-dan-rea/content/2025-02-28-1002-nightside-with-dan-rea-nightside-news-update-22825/

Nightside News Update 2/28/25: Why do women live longer than men? (WBZ NewsRadio's NightSide with Dan Rea) WBZ NewsRadio’s NightSide with Dan Rea interviewed Berenice Benayoun on the possible biological reasons why women live longer than men on average. “We know that in controlled conditions, being male is a detriment to a long lifespan.”

San Francisco Chronicle spoke to Eunyoung Choi for an article on her study of how heat exposure affects biological aging in older adults. “[The study] suggests chronic heat exposure may have a substantial impact on the body’s aging process, similar to other major lifestyle and environmental stressors.”

Does the temperature where you live impact how fast you age? Scientists find ‘silent toll’ Older adults in hot regions may age faster biologically, highlighting the need for protective measures against extreme heat, a USC study finds.

Amid an ongoing opioid crisis that contributes to shortening American lifespans, a new study addresses the lack of nationwide data on who keeps the lifesaving medication with them and uses it to reverse overdoses.

Who Carries and Uses Naloxone in the U.S.? New study addresses the lack of nationwide data on who keeps the lifesaving medication with them and uses it to reverse overdoses.

On Mar 12, Leonard Davis School admission counselors are hosting open office hours via Zoom. They will answer questions about our programs, application process, application deadlines and more.

http://bit.ly/gero-office-hrs

BBC Science Focus Magazine covered a study by Andrei Irimia, which developed a method using MRI scans and artificial intelligence (AI) to track how quickly the brain ages, a critical step in predicting and potentially preventing conditions like dementia.

Dementia breakthrough: Science can now measure your brain’s true ‘biological age’

Pinchas Cohen, Dean of the USC Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, has been named a Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors (NAI). Cohen is one of six USC faculty members welcomed to the 2025 class of Senior Members. NAI Senior Members are “active faculty, scientists, and administrators with success in patents, licensing, and commercialization and have produced technologies that have brought or aspire to bring real impact on the welfare of society,” according to the NAI website.

Dean Pinchas Cohen Named Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors Cohen, an expert on mitochondrial microproteins and their therapeutic potential for diseases related to aging, holds several patents for novel peptides.

The New York Times featured a study by Eunyoung Choi and Jennifer Ailshire on how more days of excessive heat correlates with increased biological aging in older adults.
Read more:

Extreme Heat Linked to Accelerated Aging in Older Adults, Study Finds A first-of-its-kind analysis found that people living in hotter areas experienced more molecular changes than those in cooler places.

The first-of-its-kind tool can non-invasively track the pace of brain changes using MRI scans; faster brain aging closely correlates with a higher risk of cognitive impairment.

New AI Model Measures How Fast the Brain Ages Developed by USC researchers, the first-of-its-kind AI tool can non-invasively track the pace of brain changes using MRI scans.

The New York Times quoted Bérénice Benayoun of USC Leonard Davis School in a story discussing how women outlive men by a significant margin, with a life expectancy of around 80 years compared to 75 years for men in the U.S. “There’s decent data showing that, at least before menopause, the female immune system tends to be better, more on it and better able to mount responses. … [males] tend to do much worse in response to infection.”

Why Do Women Live Longer Than Men? By understanding the reasons, scientists hope to help both s*xes age better.

Join our upcoming admission office hours via Zoom to learn more about our programs, application process, application deadlines and more.

http://bit.ly/gero-office-hrs

Last Thursday the USC Leonard Davis School celebrated Black History Month with great food, community, and powerful performances 🎶✨

⏰ GQ quoted Valter Longo in an article on the healthiest time to eat dinner. “If you do have a bigger dinner, and you’re sleeping well, your cholesterol and blood pressure [are] fine, then you’re good,” Longo says. “But if you’re sleeping poorly, and you have [health] problems, maybe you should move to having a bigger breakfast, a bigger lunch and a smaller dinner, which usually seems to be the healthiest [pattern] of all.”

The Healthiest Time to Eat Dinner, According to Experts For the most restful sleep and to maximize your metabolic health and longevity, you most likely need to tweak when—and what—you eat at the end of the day.

On February 27, Leonard Davis School admission counselors are hosting open office hours via Zoom. They will answer questions about our programs, application process, application deadlines and more.

http://bit.ly/gero-office-hrs

South China Morning Post featured research by Dan Nation on how blood vessel health affects dementia. “If the brain’s blood vessels are not healthy then the brain cannot be healthy. The brain is very dependent on the health of its blood vessels in many ways,” he said.
Read more: https://ow.ly/lgo250V3XBv

On 2/13 @ 12PM: Please join us for a Colloquium Series lecture on "System Mechanisms of Brain Rejuvenation,” presented by Saul Villeda, PhD, Associate Professor at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

News-Medical featured a study led by Berenice Benayoun that investigated the mechanisms that govern male and female differences in cognitive resilience and decline to understand the influence of biological s*x on aging.

The X factor: Decoding brain aging differences between men and women Researchers unveil how biological s*x influences brain aging, revealing genetic, hormonal, and molecular mechanisms behind cognitive resilience and decline.