New Directions

Tom Kirkwood, Professor of Medicine and head of the Department of Gerontology at the University of Newcastle presents his final of five Reith Lectures investigating new insights from the frontiers of science and the choices and decisions we face in the uncharted territories of a greying world. In this lecture, Professor Kirkwood challenges science and society to look afresh at what is happening in our world, to recognise the opportunities, as well as the threats to future stability, that stem from the revolution in longevity. We know where we've come from and why, he argues, but we don't have a clear plan of where to go now. The longevity revolution has reached a turning-point and the decisions we take in the next few years will have far-reaching consequences for the state of future society