The International Centenarian Consortium (ICC) is a group of centenarian researchers from around the world who have met every year since 1994. The purpose of these meetings is to share recent information and research on centenarians and to foster collaboration among different centenarian research teams.
Accomplishments of the International Centenarian Consortium include:
- Sharing of research ideas and results
- Development of joint research protocol
- Joint grant proposal writing
- Joint publications (books and special issues)
About Us
Since 1994, the International Centenarian Consortium have met to share recent information and research on centenarians and to foster collaboration among different centenarian research teams.
The first discussion of forming an international consortium of centenarian researchers was held at the XV International Congress of Gerontology in Acapulco in 1989 where Leonard W. Poon and Peter Martin representing the Georgia Centenarian Study at University of Georgia met with Bo Hagberg who represented the Swedish Centenarian Study at the University of Lund, Sweden. A follow-up meeting was held at the XVI International Congress of Gerontology in Budapest in 1993 with representatives from the Georgia, Hungarian, Japanese, Swedish centenarian studies. The first meeting of the ICC was held in 1994 in a farmhouse in U. S. Georgia with representatives from the French, Georgia, Hungarian, Japanese, and Swedish Centenarian Studies. Additional meetings were held in Lund, Heidelberg, Tokyo, Honolulu, Hano, Seoul, Atlanta, Paris, Cuba, Hong Kong, and Osaka. Meetings were also organized as part of the International Congress of Gerontology in Paris, Vancouver and Rio de Janeiro, and as part of the annual meeting of the Gerontological Society of America in Boston and Cincinnati.
To date, the following centenarian studies have participated in the International Centenarian Consortium: the Amsterdam 100 Plus Study, the Danish Centenarian Study, the French Centenarian Study, the Fordham Centenarian Study, the Georgia Centenarian Study, the Heidelberg Centenarian Study, the Hong Kong Centenarian Study, the Hungarian Centenarian Study, the Korean Centenarian Study, the Kuakini Hawaii Lifespan Study, the New England Centenarian Study, the Okinawa Centenarian Study, the Portuguese Centenarian Study, the Swedish Centenarian Study, the Swiss Centenarian Study, the Sydney Centenarian Study, the Trieste Centenarian Study, and the Tokyo Centenarian Study.
The International Centenarian Consortium has successfully translated some of the consortium presentations into publications (e.g., Martin, P., Rott, C., Hagberg, B., & Morgan, K., 2000: Centenarians – Autonomy vs. dependence in the oldest old. New York: Springer; Global Aging in 2006; and the Asian Journal of Gerontology and Geriatrics (2012). In addition, the ICC has fostered individual partnerships across countries.
History of Meetings:
1994 University of Georgia (Georgia Centenarian Study)
1995 University of Lund, Sweden (Swedish Centenarian Study)
1996 Fontevraud, France (French Centenarian Study)
1997 Cincinnati (Meeting at the Gerontological Society of America)
1998 Bakaskog, Sweden (Swedish Centenarian Study)
1999 Hirschhorn, Germany (Heidelberg Centenarian Study)
2001 Vancouver, Canada (Meeting at the International Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics)
2002 Boston (Meeting at the Gerontological Society of America)
2003 Honolulu (Honolulu Asia Aging Study)
2004 Hanö, Sweden (Swedish Centenarian Study)
2005 Rio de Janeiro (Meeting at the International Congress of Gerontology and Geriatrics)
2006 Sunchung, Korea (Korean Centenarian Study)
2008 Atlanta (Georgia Centenarian Study)
2009 Paris (French Centenarian Study)
2010 Havana (Cuban Centenarian Study)
2011 Hong Kong (Hong Kong Centenarian Study)
2012 Hanö, Sweden (Swedish Centenarian Study)
2013 Sunchung, Korea (Korean Centenarian Study)
2014 Osaka, Japan (Tokyo Centenarian Study)
2015 Sardinia (Italian Centenarian Study)
2016 Porto, Portugal (Portuguese Centenarian Study)
2017 University California, Santa Cruz (Georgia Centenarian Study)
2018 Sydney, Australia (Sydney Centenarian Study)
2019 Lausanne, Switzerland (Swiss Centenarian Study)
2020 cancelled due to COVID
2021 Tokyo via Zoom due to COVID (Tokyo Centenarian Study)
2022 cancelled due to COVID
2023 Marstrand (Island) Sweden (Swedish Centenarian Study)
2024 Texel Island, Amsterdam, Netherlands (100+ Study)
2025 Nantucket, Massachusetts (our meeting! New England Centenarian Study)