Valter Longo

Dr. Longo is Senior Group Leader at IFOM, the Edna M. Jones Professor of Gerontology and Biological Sciences, and the Director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California – Davis School of Gerontology, Los Angeles. Dr. Longo's studies focus on the fundamental mechanisms of aging in simple organisms, mice and humans. The Longo laboratory has identified several genetic pathways that regulate aging in simple organisms and reduce the incidence of multiple diseases in mice and humans. His laboratory also described both dietary and genetic interventions that protect cells and improve the treatment and prevention of cancer and other diseases in mammals. Dr. Longo's most recent studies are on interventions that can affect stem cell-based regeneration to promote longevity.

At the IFOM, the group directed by Longo studies the effects of extreme diets and drugs that mimic them on the prevention and treatment of cancer, with focus on the role of stem cells. Among the accolades received by Dr. Longo are the 2010 Nathan Shock Lecture Award from the National Institute on Aging (NIA/NIH) and the 2013 Vincent Cristofalo “Rising Star” Award in Aging Research from the American Federation for Aging Research (AFAR).

Dr. Longo was born and raised in Genoa, Italy and received his undergraduate degree from the University of North Texas, where he majored in biochemistry with a minor in jazz performance. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1997 and his postdoctoral training in the Neurobiology of Aging and Alzheimer’s Diseases at USC. He started his independent career in 2000 at the University of Southern California, School of Gerontology, one of the first and leading programs for aging research and education.