Valter Longo

Dr. Valter Longo is the Edna M. Jones Professor of Gerontology and Biological Sciences and Director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California –Leonard Davis School of Gerontology, Los Angeles, one of the leading centers for research on aging and age-related disease. Dr. Longo is also the Director of the Longevity and Cancer Program at the IFOM Institute of Molecular Oncology in Milan, Italy.

Dr. Longo studied biochemistry as an undergraduate at the University of North Texas and received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from UCLA, where he worked under calorie restriction guru Roy Walford, MD. He completed his postdoctoral training in neurobiology with longevity pioneer Caleb Finch, Ph.D. He also received extensive training in immunology, endocrinology, microbiology, genetics, molecular biology, and pathology.

His studies focus on the fundamental mechanisms of aging in simple organisms and mice and on how these mechanisms can be translated to humans. The Longo laboratory has identified some of the key genetic pathways that regulate aging in simple organisms and has demonstrated that the inactivation of such pathways can reduce the incidence or progression of multiple diseases in mice and humans. His laboratory has also developed both dietary and genetic interventions that protect normal cells while sensitizing cancer cells to chemotherapy interventions now being tested in many US and European hospitals.

The Longo laboratory recently published key findings on a 5-day periodic dietary intervention called Fasting Mimicking Diet (FMD). It showed in randomized clinical trials that FMD reduces the risk factors and markers associated with aging and diseases. Dr. Longo’s most recent studies focus on the use of FMD interventions to activate stem cell-based regeneration to promote longevity.