Bradley J. Willcox, MD, MSc

Bradley J. Willcox M.D., MSc. trained in Medicine at the University of Toronto, Internal Medicine at the Mayo Clinic, and Geriatric Medicine at Harvard Medical School. Dr. Willcox is Principal Investigator of the National Institute on Aging-funded Kuakini Hawaii Lifespan Study and Kuakini Hawaii Healthspan Study, which are ancillary studies on aging from the Kuakini Honolulu Heart Program. He is also Professor and Director of Research at the Department of Geriatric Medicine, John A. Burns School of Medicine, University of Hawaii, located on the Kuakini Health System campus. Dr. Willcox is the Co-Principal Investigator of the Okinawa Centenarian Study and has been investigating mechanisms of aging for almost two decades with this study. Clinically, he runs the Long Term Care Hospitalist Program at The Queen’s Medical Center, where he is a three time nominee for Physician of the Year.

Dr. Willcox’s research teams have identified several important genetic and environmental risk factors for aging and aging-related chronic diseases. His research team in Okinawa identified the first longevity-associated gene, and his research team in Hawaii was the first to identify the association of the FOXO3 gene with human longevity and he has greater than 150 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Dr. Willcox is on the Editorial Board of several leading gerontological journals, including the Journals of Gerontology. He has been recognized with a Dorothy Dillon Eweson Award for Advances in Aging Research, the Henry Christian Award from the American Federation for Medical Research, a Director’s Citation from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, and other honors. Dr. Willcox is also the author of a New York Times best-selling book on healthy aging, The Okinawa Program. His work has appeared in cover articles of Time Magazine, National Geographic, and on Oprah, Good Morning America, NOVA Science, BBC, and other media.