By Gemma Fullam
“I had some friends who had grandparents the same age as my parents,” says biotechnologist Kennedy Schaal, whose mum and dad were in their 40s when she was born. What was unusual in the 1980s is now commonplace, but for Schaal – now herself a 40-year-old mum of two – her family circumstance proved to be the catalyst for a career in science, with a specific focus on longevity.
“The idea of ageing as healthily as possible has always been on my mind,” she says, as has “wanting ageing to look different for myself and for those I care about”.