Longevity and Cancer
Group members
Valter Longo
Staff Scientist
Blazevits Olga
Phd Student
Anastasiya Shmahala
Lazzeri Samuel
Pavlou Evangelia
(update: Feb 2025)
Coordinator
After earning his degree from the University of North Texas, Longo obtained a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) in 1997, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship in Neurobiology of Aging and Alzheimer’s Disease at the University of Southern California (USC). Longo is a Professor of Biogerontology and Director of the USC Longevity Institute at the Davis School of Gerontology in Los Angeles. At IFOM, he coordinates the "Oncology and Longevity" research group, which focuses on analyzing various genetic mechanisms that predispose to aging and identifying therapeutic strategies—including dietary interventions—to slow down and counteract the onset of major age-related diseases, including cancer.
The Oncology and Longevity team is dedicated to identifying the mechanisms underlying cellular aging and their potential correlation with cancer development, as well as the differential protection of normal and cancerous cells. The researchers, coordinated by Valter Longo, are particularly focused on the connection between various dietary components and the genes that protect cells and organisms.
Recent publications
- Caffa I, Longo VD, Nencioni A.
Fasting plus tyrosine kinase inhibitors in cancer.
Aging (Albany NY). 2015 Dec;7(12):1026-7. PMID: 26645151 - Mirzaei H, Raynes R, Longo VD.
The conserved role of protein restriction in aging and disease.
Curr Opin Clin Nutr Metab Care. 2016 Jan;19(1):74-9. PMID: 26560522 - Hirschey MD, DeBerardinis RJ, Longo VD, et al.
Dysregulated metabolism contributes to oncogenesis.
Semin Cancer Biol. 2015 Dec;35 Suppl:S129-50. PMID: 26454069