Stephen Coles, M.D., Ph.D, passed away on December 3 of complications of pancreatic cancer. He was 73.

L. [Leslie] Stephen Coles was a Lecturer in Gerontology at the University California, Los Angeles, in the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Since he started teaching at UCLA in 1986, he taught for the Computer Science Department, the Surgical Department, and the Fiat Lux Program for Freshman.

He tracked the oldest people in the world for more than 20 years, and published the most recent five years of his research in the journal PLoS ONE. Coles performed autopsies on 12 “supercentenarians,” people who are 110 years old or older, more than any other pathologist. Further details on his research can be found at www.grg.org.

He is survived by a wife Natalie, a daughter Electra McBurnie, and one granddaughter, Cailyn McBurnie. He is in cryopreservation at Alcor Life Extension Foundation with the expectation of future revival.