Healthy longevity in the 21st century: A cross-generational life course perspective
Join George Ploubidis for this Professorial Lecture which explores findings from across several generations suggesting how to delay the onset of chronic illness and promote health and wellbeing.

Watch the lecture
The twentieth century witnessed significant improvements in health in most countries, including substantial increases in survival to older ages. The rapid increase in life expectancy across generations has raised the question of how healthily the gained years of life will be spent, with emerging evidence pointing to an expansion of morbidity, or an increase in years spent in poor health.
Drawing on his research, George will demonstrate that this is not a consequence of an ageing population but a reflection of long-term population health trends. He will show how generational differences observed in the UK’s series of population based birth cohorts – which track large numbers of individuals from birth and throughout their lives – offer insights into how to delay the onset of chronic illness and promote health, function, and productivity.
He will present evidence on the central role of lifelong mental health in shaping healthy longevity and will discuss the wider implications of secular population mental health trends. Finally, George will propose that evidence from across the life course of several generations is needed in order to fully grasp the complex interplay between long term macrosocial trends, shocks and population health.
This event will be particularly useful to researchers, policy makers and students interested in public health, population ageing, mental health and longitudinal cohort research.
The IOE Professorial Public Lecture series
Our series of professorial public lectures provides an opportunity to celebrate and share the expertise of our professors. Join the conversation on Twitter with #IOELectures and @IOE_London.
Each lecture is free and open to everyone - staff, students and members of the public.
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Professor of Population Health and Statistics
UCL Social Research Institute
His research interests relate to socioeconomic and demographic determinants of health over the life course and the mechanisms that underlie generational differences in health, well-being and mortality. His methodological work in longitudinal surveys focuses on applications for handling missing data, causal inference and measurement error.
Professor of Economics, and Director of the Centre for Longitudinal Studies
UCL
Alissa’s main research interests relate to inequality, poverty, and the intergenerational transmission of well-being.
Her research interests include the interdisciplinary fields of early childhood and international development, and early childhood across cultures, particularly in South East Asia and the Asia-Pacific region. She is interested in the social, cultural and policy influences on children's development and early learning in a range of formal and informal contexts such as preschool and home-based settings.
Further information
Ticketing
Pre-booking essential
Cost
Free
Open to
All
Availability
Yes