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Holding accredited status at the organizational level signifies that validations conducted by the organization are, by default, recognized by LongeviQuest and that the organization is a signatory to the LongeviQuest Charter.
A Subsidiary is a research organization fully integrated into LongeviQuest’s corporate structure, with financial and logistical support provided by LongeviQuest to the Subsidiary to expand the scope of research activities. Subsidiaries nevertheless retain authority to direct their own research activities, including validating claims (submitted to Commission for approval) and determining the allocation of the research budget.
An Accredited Partner Organization (“APO”) is an external research organization which is not integrated within LongeviQuest’s corporate structure, but which nevertheless is afforded accredited status equal to Subsidiaries for the purposes of global cooperation on longevity research. The status includes mutual recognition of validated claims, as well as eligibility for a Commission seat. APOs will be granted a seat on the Commission
An Accredited Validator is an individual researcher who, regardless of organizational affiliation, is credited with three or more (3+) validations recognized by LongeviQuest. Accredited Validator is a status which will be publicly recognized by LongeviQuest. This status is conferred automatically and does not require bestowal by the Commission.
The primary responsibility of the Global Validation Commission (hereafter referred to as “the Commission”) is to determine who is recognized as a validated (super)centenarian by LongeviQuest.
Dr. Andrew Holmes is a Global Validation Commissioner for LongeviQuest, co-founder of the European Supercentenarian Organisation, and bioinformatician. He graduated with a bachelor's degree in Genetics from the University of York, and with a PhD in the field of ageing. He has extensive experience in the validation of supercentenarians, especially from the UK, but also from many countries across continental Europe, North America, and the Commonwealth. From 2008-2020 he was the British correspondent for the Gerontology Research Group. He founded Oldest in Britain in 2009, a manually curated centenarian public research database that has become the primary source on the oldest people from the UK. In 2020 he co-founded the European Supercentenarian Organisation (ESO), the continent's primary supercentenarian age validation body, which became an Accredited Partner Organisation to LongeviQuest in 2023.
Yumi Yamamoto is a Global Validation Commissioner and President of LongeviQuest Japan. Yamamoto-san initially entered the supercentenarian research field as a caregiver for her great-grandmother Shigeyo Nakachi (1905-2021), who was Japan’s second-oldest person at the time of her passing. Yamamoto-san (as her caregiver) interacted heavily with prominent members of Japan’s medical, academic, and media industries; she also became heavily involved in age validation research in Japan. This led to her appointment as the lead researcher for Japan for the Gerontology Research Group (GRG), the most prominent age validation entity prior to LQ. Her extensive experience with Japanese validation research led to her appointment as President of LongeviQuest Japan in 2022.
Fabrizio Villatoro is a Global Validation Commissioner and President of LongeviQuest América. In his role, he coordinates research in the Western Hemisphere (including NorthAmerica, Central America, South America, and the Caribbean). Based in Mexico, he initially served as the Gerontology Research Group's lead Mexico correspondent. He later became a co-founder of the Latin American Supercentenarians (LAS) organization, covering the entirety of Ibero-America. His research achievements include the validations of both María Branyas Morera of Spain (world’s oldest living person) and Juan Vicente Pérez Mora of Venezuela (world’s oldest living man), both of whom he visited personally in 2023.
Holding accredited status at the organizational level signifies that validations conducted by the organization are, by default, recognized by LongeviQuest. The validation procedure is described in the following diagram:
LongeviQuest recognizes all validated cases. In no circumstance will (super)centenarians, their families, loved ones, or caregivers be compelled by LongeviQuest to permit the public display of their name(s), image(s), or likeness(es). While personally identifying information must be known to LongeviQuest researchers for private evaluation, LongeviQuest will honor all requests for public anonymity. The inclusion of anonymous cases is critical for LongeviQuest’s commitment to utmost scientific accuracy.
