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, where he led a number of major global initiatives including as editor and writer for the World report on ageing and health, which forms the basis for the UN Decade of Healthy Ageing. In 2012, he established the WHOGlobal Network of Age-friendly Cities and Communities which now comprises over 1,500 member municipalities responsible for more than 300 million people. Other projects developed by his team included the Integrated Care for Older People (ICOPE) program and a global campaign to combat ageism. He has worked extensively with the World Economic Forum and was a commissioner on the recent US National Academy of Medicine Commission to define a Global Roadmap for Healthy Longevity.