SNOWDON, David A. 1952-

PERSONAL: Born May 10, 1952, in Redlands, CA. Education: California Polytechnic State University, B.Sc., 1974; California State University, M.S., 1976; University of Minnesota, M.Ph., 1977.

ADDRESSES: Offıce—University of Kentucky, Center on Aging, 303 Sanders-Brown Center 0230, Lexington, KY 40506. E-mail—[email protected].

CAREER: Division of Epidemiology, School of Public Health, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, MN, resident fellow, beginning 1977; Sanders-Brown Center on Aging, University of Kentucky Medical Center, professor of neurology.

MEMBER: Society of Epidemiology Research, American Association of Advanced Sciences, Phi Kappa Phi.

WRITINGS:

Aging with Grace: What the Nun Study Teaches Us about Leading Longer, Healthier, and More Meaningful Lives, Bantam Books (New York, NY), 2001.

SIDELIGHTS: Featured internationally in the media for his research on aging, particularly his work with the School Sisters of Notre Dame, David A. Snowdon has published his findings in a book titled Aging with Grace: What the Nun Study Teaches Us about Leading Longer, Healthier, and More Meaningful Lives. Snowdon's "nun study," as his research is popularly known as, focuses on the story of a group of nuns between the ages of seventy-five and 106, studying their medical histories and their lifestyles to gain clues about the onset of aging and Alzheimer's disease. Snowdon launched his research with the nuns in 1986 and focused on this group of subjects because of the similarity of their diets, lifestyle and other characteristics. Although he has published some of his findings in Aging with Grace, Snowdon continues to work on the study at the University of Kentucky. In the meantime, his book has been published to critical acclaim, with reviewers praising Snowdon for his delicate balance of science and story. For example, John McCrone wrote in the Guardian that Aging with Grace is a "rare book" because of "the way it combines cutting-edge science with an inside view of how that knowledge is being won." Similarly, Jodith Janes said in the Library Journal that Snowdon has written an "inspirational and fascinating" book that melds "personal histories with scientific fact" in an extraordinary manner.

BIOGRAPHICAL AND CRITICAL SOURCES:

periodicals

America, October 8, 2001, Myles N. Sheehan, "The Nun Study," p. 30.

Guardian, August 18, 2001, John McCrone, "Sisters of Mercy."

Library Journal, June 15, 2001, Jodith Janes, review of Aging with Grace: What the Nun Study Teaches Us about Leading Longer, Healthier, and More Meaningful Lives, p. 96.

Prevention, November, 2001, Michele J. Morris, "Smile and Your Body Smiles with You," p. 1S36.

Publishers Weekly, May 7, 2001, review of Aging withGrace: What the Nun Study Teaches Us about Leading Longer, Healthier, and More Meaningful Lives, p. 239.

Time, May 14, 2001, "The Nun Study: How One Scientist and 678 Sisters are Helping Unlock the Secrets of Alzheimer's," p. 54.*