Thomas Kirkwood

Thomas Kirkwood was until recently Dean for Ageing at Newcastle University, having been Director of the Institute for Ageing and Health since 2004. During his directorship the institute developed to become the largest on ageing in the UK and one of the foremost of its kind in the world. He also recently began a part-time position as professor at the University of Copenhagen. His research has been on the scientific basis of ageing and its relationship with age-related disability and disease, including the impact of social and behavioral factors. He leads a major population-based investigation (the Newcastle 85+ Study) which has examined in unprecedented detail the spectrum of health and associated biological, functional and psychosocial measures in a cohort of very old people. He has advised the UK government on aspects of population ageing.

Professor Thomas Kirkwood holds a B.A. Mathematics, University of Cambridge, 1972/MSc Applied Statistics, Oxford, 1973/PhD Biology, Cambridge, 1983