The talk: Society’s view of “the elderly” tends to be stereotyped: “What do you expect at your age?” Older people are different in a number of ways, not least when ill, but there is wide variation in how people age. Biological age and chronological age are not the same. Paddy will explore the processes of ageing - the underlying mechanisms and effects - to question perceptions, and to look at ways in which we may modify the effects of the march of time. How can we age well?

The speaker: Paddy Neligan is a retired consultant geriatrician. He trained in a range of medical specialties before settling on geriatric medicine, where the person with the disease is as important as the disease itself. He spent the last part of his career at the Yorkshire Deanery, overseeing the postgraduate training of doctors in hospitals across Yorkshire, with particular responsibility for doctors from overseas and doctors whose performance gave cause for concern. Although age is beginning to catch up with him, he keeps as active as possible, and seven grandchildren try to keep him young.