John Beard, MBBS PhD, is Irene Diamond Professor and Director of the International Longevity Center-USA at Columbia University, New York. He was previously Director of Ageing and Life Course with the World Health Organization in Geneva.

While at WHO, he led development of the World report on ageing and health which underpins the current UN Decade of Healthy Ageing, and was responsible for many global initiatives including development of the Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) programme, and the Global Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities which current covers over 300 million people. He has worked extensively with the World Economic Forum and participated in the recent US National Academy of Medicine Commission on Healthy Longevity.