On November 11th, 2012,
Dr. Daniela Jopp of the
Applied Developmental Psychology program hosted the
Fordham Centenarian Study Reception to honor participants in her two-year study. There were over 70 guests in attendance including 10 centenarians, Fordham administration and faculty, study staff and special guest,
Grant Campany of Archon Genomics X PRIZE.
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| Dr. Daniela Jopp |
Fordham Dean of Research Nancy Busch welcomed reception guests and opened the event. Dr. Jopp introduced attending centenarians and gave an overview of preliminary findings of the
Fordham Centenarian Study. The study documents the experience of life at age 100 and intends to bring awareness to a growing, but rarely studied population. Dr. Jopp emphasized the challenges centenarians face, for example with respect to health, but stressed that most centenarians who participated in the study indicated to enjoy and value their life. She also highlighted the fact that centenarians have high levels of psychological strengths, such as feeling in control, experiencing life as meaningful, and wanting to live, which helps them to be happy and satisfied and may have contributed to reaching such an advanced age. Mr. Campany presented the 100 Over 100 Competition, noting its significance in learning more about genes that promote longevity and health in centenarians and consequently its imminent impact on healthcare. Two centenarians shared experiences and their take on their own longevity with the audience.
Reception guests enjoyed hearing about Fordham Centenarian Study and getting the chance to meet and learn more about centenarians.
In the future, Dr. Jopp intends to follow up with the study through a project focused on the perspective of the caretakers, children and relatives of the centenarians. She is currently planning on presenting results of the study at the upcoming Gerontological Society of America Conference. Dr. Jopp has recently been featured in Psychology Today and the Financial Times Germany in interviews about her work.
For more information about the Centenarian Study and Dr. Jopp’s other projects, visit the Web page for Dr. Jopp’s
Adult Development and Aging Lab.
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