Living to 100 may well represent the ultimate game of "Survivor." Centenarians, as they're known, were alive at the turn of the last century, when airplanes, computers, and space travel were pure science fantasies. And yet, a century later, these centenarians are blazing new trails in science every day.

Florence Stephenson Mahoney has spent most of her adult years as an advocate for good health for all. Currently 102 years old, Mrs. Mahoney can proudly say that she played a key role in reshaping federal government priorities. During the three decades after World War II, Mrs. Mahoney worked tirelessly to encourage the federal government to allocate money for biomedical research. She was astonishingly successful. The legacy of her efforts today is the greatest biomedical research aggregation in the world - the National Institutes of Health (NIH).

If you're not already a subscriber to Living Longer and Loving It! and would like to subscribe, Click Here.

To read previous Living Longer and Loving It newsletters, Click Here.