Strategic Advisor

Dr John Beard is Irene Diamond Professor and Director of the International Longevity Center - USA at Columbia University, New York.

He works globally with academia, policy makers and the private sector to reimagine the second half of life.

For 10 years until 2019, he was Director of Ageing and Life Course with the World Health Organization in Geneva where he led a number of major global initiatives. He was editor and writer for the World report on ageing and health which forms the foundation for the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing - a political mandate for global action. In 2012, he established the WHO Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities which now comprises over 1500 member municipalities responsible for more than 300 million people. Other projects developed by his team included the Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) programme, and a global campaign to combat ageism and reframe the way we think about ageing and older age.

He also worked extensively with the World Economic Forum including as chair of their Global Agenda Council on Population Ageing. He is a visiting professor at Toulouse University, and was previously a Professor with the University of New South Wales in Sydney Australia and commissioner with the US National Academy of Medicine Commission on Healthy Longevity.