View source for L. Stephen Coles

{{Infobox person
|L. Stephen Coles
|image = Stephen-coles-md.png |image size = 286
|caption = 
|status = deceased-septuagenarian
|birthyr = 1941 |birthplace = New York City, New York, United States
|deathyr = 2014 |deathplace = Scottsdale, Arizona, United States
|sort = Coles, L. Stephen
}}<!--
-->'''Leslie Stephen Coles''' (19 January 1941 – 3 December 2014) was an American [[Gerontology|gerontologist]] who was the founder and Executive Director of the [[Gerontology Research Group]] (1990–2014).

==Biography==
Leslie Stephen Coles was born in New York City, New York, United States on 19 January 1941. He received his B.S. in electrical engineering from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute in Troy, New York, his Master's in mathematics from the Carnegie Institute of Technology, and his Ph.D. in systems and communication sciences from Carnegie Mellon University. After attending Stanford University School of Medicine, Coles completed his clinical internship in obstetrics and gynaecology at the Jackson Memorial Hospital of the Leonard M. Miller School of Medicine (University of Miami).

He published over 130 journal articles on subjects ranging from robotics, artificial intelligence, computer science, to the study of human aging and longevity (gerontology, biogerontology, anti-aging). Dr. Coles is the first person to have performed multiple supercentenarian autopsies. Under his direction, the GRG grew from just a local discussion group in Los Angeles in 1990 to an online internet prescence in 1995 to the de facto arbiter of world human longevity rankings (beyond the first place) when it teamed up with [[Guinness World Records]] in early 2000. By 2002, the GRG database was effectively established, having grown from just 68 initial cases in 1998 to several hundred. By 2006, the GRG database exceeded 1,000 cases.

Dr. Coles continued to expand the influence of the GRG over the years, having been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Smithsonian, etc., especially from 2004 onward.

Dr. Coles sought, in his studies of supercentenarians, to identify what might be preventing humans from "living longer than they do". He was a co-founder of the [[Supercentenarian Research Foundation]] in 2004, with [[Stan Primmer]].

In December 2012, Dr. Coles was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. He continued to work part-time over the next two years as he sought treatment.

He died in Scottsdale, Arizona, United States, from pancreatic cancer on 3 December 2014 at the age of 73 years, 318 days. His brain was cryogenically frozen after death.

==Gallery==
<gallery>
GGilman.jpg|Interviewing [[Gerald Gilman]] (aged 110) and his daughter Pauline (aged 86) in July 2003
Marion Higgins Dr Coles.jpg|With [[Marion Higgins]] (aged 111) in June 2005
GJohnsonSColes.jpg|With [[George Johnson]] (aged 112) in June 2006
NAndersonSColes.jpg|With [[Noemi Anderson]] (aged 110) in March 2008
GBainesSColes.jpg|With [[Gertrude Baines]] on her 115th birthday in April 2009
WBreuningSColes.jpg|Interviewing [[Walter Breuning]] (aged 112) in August 2009
DKollarAug2009.jpg|With [[Delma Kollar]] (aged 111) in August 2009
FMaasSColes.jpg|Presents [[Frederica Sagor Maas]] (aged 110) with an honorary SRF plaque in August 2010
SMexiaSColes.jpg|Interviewing [[Soledad Mexia]] (aged 111) in August 2010
SMexiaSColes1.jpg|Presents Soledad Mexia (aged 111) with an honorary SRF plaque in August 2010
LDenmarkSColes.jpg|Presents [[Leila Denmark]] (aged 112) with an SRF Honorary Plaque in September 2010
DKollarSColes.jpg|Presents Delma Kollar (aged 112) with an honorary SRF plaque in September 2010
MWinnSColes.jpg|With [[Mississippi Winn]] (aged 113) and her great-niece Mary Hollins in September 2010
ESanbornSColes.jpg|With [[Eunice Sanborn]] (aged 114) in September 2010
MMarcusSColes.jpg|With [[Mollye Marcus]]
GDegueldreSColes.jpg|With [[Germaine Degueldre]] in October 2010
MBardetSColes.jpg|With [[Marie-Therese Bardet]] (aged 112) in March 2011
ARiveraSColes.jpg|With [[Antonia Gerena Rivera]] (aged 110) in May 2011
EThompsonSColes.png|With [[Elsie Thompson]] (aged 112) in June 2011
ERichSColes.jpg|With [[Elsie Rich]] (aged 110) in September 2011
James McCoubrey.jpeg|With [[James McCoubrey]] (aged 110) in December 2011
AClarke2.jpg|With [[Avice Clarke]]
Flowers.jpg|With [[Charlotte Flowers]] in 2011
SMexiaSColes2.jpg|With Soledad Mexia (aged 112) in June 2012
BChristieSColes.jpg|With [[Beulah Christie]]
BZigrangLSColes.png|With [[Bonita Zigrang]] (aged 110) in July 2014
RFairbanksSColes.jpg|With [[Ronnie Fairbanks]]
MPazargadSColes.jpg|With [[Mansoor Pazargad]]
</gallery>

==Books==

*L. Stephen Coles (2011) ''Extraordinary Healing: How the discoveries of Mirko Beljanski, the world's first green molecular biologist, can protect and restore your health''. Freedom Press, Topanga, California; {{ISBN|9781893910898}}. This book propagates the discredited ideas of Mirko Beljanski, who had been convicted of illegally practicing medicine in 1994.<ref name="point">{{cite news |url=http://www.lepoint.fr/actualites-politique/1996-01-20/faux-bulletins-de-sante-luttes-intestines-14-ans-d-intrigues-a-l-elysee/917/0/101954 |title=14 ans d'intrigues à l'Élysée |last=Kouchner |first=Annie |date=January 20, 1996 |work=Le Point |language=French |accessdate=August 11, 2010}}</ref>
*L. Stephen Coles and David Steinman (1999) ''The IP-6 with Inositol Question and Answer Book: Nature's Ultimate Anti-Cancer Pill''. Freedom Press, Topanga, California; {{ISBN|9781893910003}}

==References==

*[http://www.latimes.com/local/obituaries/la-me-stephen-coles-20141205-story.html L. Stephen Coles dies at 73; studied extreme aging in humans]
{{Reflist}}
[[Category:Septuagenarians]]
[[Category:Gerontology researchers]]
[[Category:GRG members]]
[[Category:United States births]]
[[Category:New York births]]
[[Category:United States deaths]]
[[Category:Arizona deaths]]
[[Category:Deceased people]]