Peter Adams

Sanford Burnham Prebys

“How do we prevent debilitating late-life chronic disease?”

Dr. Peter D. Adams is Director of the Cancer Genome and Epigenetics Program at Sanford Burnham Prebys and serves on the Executive Committee of the San Diego Nathan Shock Center. His research focuses on epigenetic-based strategies to promote healthy aging and suppress disease. He coined “chromostasis” to describe chromatin mechanisms that support aging health, discovered cytoplasmic chromatin fragments (CCFs) in senescent cells, and co- developed the first mouse DNA methylation clock. Adams has received multiple awards, including the Tenovus Medal (2016), Glenn Awards (2017, 2018), and election to the Academy for Health and Lifespan Research (2023). He was co-Editor-in-Chief of Aging Cell(2012–2022) and is a founding Editor of Aging Biology.

Sara Mas Assens

Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR)

Sara Mas Assens is a sociologist and anthropologist. She leads the strategy for impact and Responsible Research and Innovation (RRI) at the Vall d’Hebron Research Institute (VHIR). With expertise in participatory research, qualitative methods, and co-creation, she works to incorporate patient and citizen perspectives into health research. At VHIR, she also promotes open and citizen science and fosters a culture of impact that emphasizes gender perspective and the inclusion of vulnerable groups, including LGTBIQ+ communities and migrant populations. She contributed to the ethical framework of the Barcelona Ageing & Longevity Lab (BALL) and collaborates on PAIR, an intergenerational program for Parkinson’s care. Sara is a member of the ECSA Health Cluster, coordinates the Citizen Science Group of REGIC, and is active in the WISE network, which promotes intersectional approaches in health research.

Daniela Craveiro

ISEG Lisbon School of Economics and Management

“How can we promote innovation in healthy ageing without reinforcing inequalities?”

Daniela Craveiro is a professor and researcher at ISEG – Lisbon School of Economics and Management, Universidade de Lisboa. She holds a Master’s degree in Social Psychology from the University of Coimbra and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Minho. Her research focuses on health inequalities, ageing inequalities, demographic change, and social sustainability, combining interdisciplinary approaches with international experience. She has participated in several EU- and FCT-funded projects, including SustInAfrica, INHERIT, and MIGAPE, as well as national initiatives that advance the understanding of Portugal’s unique demographic and social challenges. Her recent work explores how ageing and health intersect with socioeconomic inequality, food environments, migration, and labour markets, with particular attention to cohort differences.

Ron DePinho

MD  Anderson Cancer Center

“Are the mechanisms underlying the aging process directly linked to those driving age-related diseases such as Alzheimer’s Disease?” 

Ronald A. DePinho, M.D. is the past president and distinguished university professor at MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston, Texas. He studied biology at Fordham University, received his M.D. degree with distinction from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, and performed his residency and postdoctoral training at Columbia-Presbyterian Medical Center. His research career began at Einstein as the Feinberg Senior Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research and an ACS Research Professor. He then joined the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Harvard Medical School where he was the founding Director of the Belfer Institute for Applied Cancer Science. During his 6-year tenure as MD Anderson’s president, Dr. DePinho conceived and launched the Cancer Moon Shots Program, recruited many world-class faculty including its first Nobel, and expanded its global network to reach one-third of the human population. His research program has made fundamental contributions to our understanding of cancer, aging, and degenerative disorders, and these discoveries have led to clinical advances. He is a leader in the evelopment and use of genetically engineered mouse models for various human cancers including colorectal cancer, pancreas, prostate, GBM, MDS, myeloma, and melanoma. His laboratory defined the role of telomeres and telomerase in cancer, aging, and Alzheimer’s Disease. For his contributions to science and healthcare, Dr. DePinho has received the AACR Clowes Memorial Award, the Albert Szent Gyorgyi Prize, the Ellis Island Medal of Honor, Portugal’s Order of Saint James of the Sword, among other awards and honors. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Academy of Science, and a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the American Association of the Advancement of Science, and the American Association of Cancer Research.

Maria Ermolaeva

Leibniz Institute on Aging

“What determines the upper limit of human lifespan, and can it be solved?”

Dr. Maria Ermolaeva is an accomplished biochemist and longevity researcher. After earning her degree in biochemistry from Lomonosov Moscow State University in 2002, she pursued doctoral studies at EMBL in Rome and the University of Cologne, where she explored inflammatory regulation in mouse models. From 2009 to 2015, she worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the CECAD Excellence Cluster at the University of Cologne, investigating the links between DNA damage, stress resilience, and healthy aging.

Since 2015, Dr. Ermolaeva has led her research group at the Leibniz Institute on Aging in Jena, Germany. Her lab focuses on designing interventions that replicate the benefits of healthy lifestyle habits, such as diet, sleep, and exercise, to enhance longevity. Additionally, she recently secured dedicated funding from the ERC to establish the scientific basis for personalized longevity treatments tailored to older individuals.

Leibniz Institute on Aging – Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Beutenbergstrasse 11, 07745 Jena, Germany.

Cluster of Excellence Balance of the Microverse, Friedrich Schiller University Jena, Jena, Germany.

Claudio Franceschi

University of Bologna and Lobachevsky State University

Bio coming soon.

Vera Gorbunova

University of Rochester

“What mechanisms allow some animal species to age 100 times slower than others?”

Vera Gorbunova is an endowed Professor of Biology at the University of Rochester and a co-director of the Rochester Aging Research Center. Her research is focused on understanding the mechanisms of longevity and genome stability and on the studies of exceptionally long-lived mammals. Dr. Gorbunova earned her B.Sc. degrees at Saint PetersburgState University, Russia and her Ph.D. at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. Dr. Gorbunova pioneered comparative biology approach to study aging and identified rules that control evolution of tumor suppressor mechanisms depending on the species lifespan and body mass. She demonstrated that high molecular mass hyaluronan is responsible for longevity and cancer resistance of the naked mole rat. Dr. Gorbunova investigates the role of Sirtuin proteins in maintaining genome and epigenome stability. She also investigates the role of genomic instability and transposable elements in aging and disease. She demonstrated that LINE1 elements trigger innate immune response that drives age-related sterile inflammation.  She has more than 100 publications including publications in high profile journals such as Nature, Science and Cell. Her work received awards of from the Ellison Medical Foundation, the Glenn Foundation, American Federation for Aging Research, and from the National Institutes of Health. Her work was awarded the Cozzarelli Prize from PNAS, prize for research on aging from ADPS/Alianz, France, Prince Hitachi Prize in Comparative Oncology, Japan, and Davey prize from Wilmot Cancer Center.

Heinrich Jasper

Genentech

Bio coming soon.

Brian Kennedy

Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, National University Health System

Dr. Brian Kennedy is a Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Biochemistry and Physiology and also serves as the Programme Chair of the Healthy Longevity Translational Research Programme and Director of the Bia-Echo Asia Centre for Reproductive Longevity and Equality, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University Singapore. In addition, he is also the Director of the Centre for Healthy Longevity, National University Health System. Collectively, NUS ageing research seeks to demonstrate that longevity interventions can be successfully employed in humans to extend healthspan, the disease-free and highly functional period of life.
From 2010 to 2016, Dr. Kennedy was the President and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, USA and he maintained a professorship there through 2020. Dr. Kennedy is also actively involved with a number of Biotechnology companies and also served as a Co-Editor-In-Chief at Aging Cell from 2011-2021. Finally, Dr. Kennedy has a track record of interaction in China, where he was a Visiting Professor at the Aging Research Institute at Guangdong Medical College from 2009 to 2014.
Affiliation(s)
(1) Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry & Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS
(2) Director, Centre for Healthy Longevity, National University Health System (NUHS)
(3) Programme Chair, Healthy Longevity Translational Research Programme, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS

Elsa Logarinho

i3S – Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde, University of Porto

“Is aging the mere result of molecular damage accrual or a continuum of developmental programs encoded in the genome? Or both?”

E. Logarinho holds a PhD in Biomedical Sciences by the University of Porto (UP). Since 2017, she leads the Ageing and Aneuploidy group at i3S Associate Laboratory. Cellular and animal models of ageing and aneuploidy, such as the Hutchinson-Gilford Progeria and Down syndromes respectively, share common features including genomic instability. Novel molecular targets whose modulation restores genome stability and delays senescence have been identified (Nat Commun 2018, Embo Rep 2020, Nat Aging 2022). The originality of her work has caught international recognition as attested by the Maximon Longevity Prize 2022, >3.5M€ competitive funding, the strong collaborative network, the delivery of invited talks in prestigious conferences, the evaluation of international grants as expert and journal peer review. Besides her core scientific activities, E. Logarinho was vice-coordinator of the Cancer Program and member of the Restrictive Scientific Council at i3S during 2019-2022, and she has been continuously involved in MSc/PhD lectures and examinations and in outreach activities. She co-authored a total of 45 publications with an h-index of 27 (Google Scholar). She is also a Research Consultant at the Insparya Hair Company. Career breaks and unconventional path: 3 maternity leaves (2004, 2011, 2012) and academia (2002-2009).

Luísa Loura

Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos / PORDATA

“Is there evidence that cases of “abrupt phase change” in the health status of elderly people are more frequent today? What is the average duration of the decline phase?“

Director of Pordata and member of the Board of Directors and Executive Committee of the Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos. She holds a PhD in Statistics and Computing and graduated in Mathematics. Luísa Loura is a retired professor from the Faculty of Sciences and a researcher at the Centre of Statistics and its Applications of the University of Lisbon. She was director of the Directorate-General for Education and Science Statistics. As a researcher, she published works in the areas of extreme value theory, stochastic processes, biostatistics and the

João Pedro de Magalhães

Genomics of Ageing and Rejuvenation Lab, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, University of Birmingham

“To me the key question is still why we age. What are the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms that drive the aging process?”

Professor João Pedro de Magalhães, Genomics of Ageing and Rejuvenation Lab, Institute of Inflammation and Ageing, University of Birmingham

Prof de Magalhaes graduated in Microbiology in 1999 from the Escola Superior de Biotecnologia in his hometown of Porto, Portugal, and then obtained a PhD in 2004 from the University of Namur in Belgium. Following a postdoc with genomics pioneer Prof George Church at Harvard Medical School, in 2008 Prof de Magalhaes joined the University of Liverpool and, in 2022, he was recruited to the University of Birmingham where he leads the Genomics of Ageing and Rejuvenation Lab (https://rejuvenomicslab.com/). His lab studies the ageing process and how we can manipulate it to fend off age-related diseases and improve human health. Prof de Magalhaes has authored over 100 publications and given over 200 invited talks, including three TEDx talks. He is also CSO of YouthBio Therapeutics, a US-based biotech company developing rejuvenation gene therapies. In addition, he has a long-term interest in technological trends and their future impact on society.

Maria Mittelbrunn

Molecular Biology Center, Consejo Superior Investigaciones Cientificas (CSIC)

“A key challenge is identifying molecular triggers that can slow down the onset of ageing”

I received the degree of Doctor in Biomedicine, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the School of Medicine at the Universidad Autonoma de Madrid in 2006 (Suma Cum Laude), and performed postdoctoral work at Spanish National Center for Cardiovascular Research (CNIC). Since 2017, I have been the Group Leader of the Immunometabolism & Inflammation Laboratory at the Molecular Biology Center (Madrid as a Research Scientist of the Spanish Research Council (CSIC).

Among my original contributions as PI are the demonstration that the deterioration of immune system function with aging not only compromises the response to infection, cancer, vaccination, or predisposes to autoimmunity but also increases the risk for cardiovascular, metabolic, and cognitive decline, thereby placing the immune system as a controller of healthy aging. I have contributed to decoding the molecular mechanisms by which aged T cells contribute to inflammaging and age-related diseases. Additionally, I have proposed new therapeutic targets to delay age-related multimorbidity and to reverse aortic aneurysms, thus preventing sudden death due to aortic dissections.

I have obtained funding from the major European and Spanish funding organizations. I have been awarded with Doctoral thesis Extraordinary Prize (2006), LÓREAL UNESCO for Women in Science (2015), BANCO SABADELL AWARD for Biomedical Research (2022), and Royal Spanish Academia of Science among others.

Since 2024, I am a Visiting Professor at the Columbia Center for Translational Immunology and has been elected as a member of the Spanish Royal Academy of Sciences.

Pedro Pita Barros

Nova School of Business and Economics, Universidade Nova de Lisboa

“How can medical innovation and social care work together for improvement in quality of life for an aging population?”; “How can we build health systems that are flexible enough to allow for different preferences on quality of life at old ages?”; “How can biomedical science contribute, together with social care, to reduce the burden of cognitive decline at older ages?”

Pedro Pita Barros is the BPI | Fundação “la Caixa” Professor of Health Economics at Nova School of Business and Economics, Universidade Nova de Lisboa. He holds a PhD in Economics and his research career in health economics has a focus on healthcare systems, competition and economic regulation. His research has been widely disseminated in high-impact peer-reviewed journals and has contributed to advancements in health economics and policy analysis.

In addition to his academic contributions, Pedro Barros has held roles in policy advisory and governance. He served as a member of the European Commission’s Expert Panel on Effective Ways of Investing in Health (2012–2022), of the Portuguese National Council of Ethics for the Life Sciences (2015–2021), and as a member of National Health Council (2017–2021).  His work often bridges academia and policy, addressing complex challenges in healthcare financing, regulation, and sustainability.

Björn Schumacher

Institute for Genome Stability in Aging and Diseases (IGSAD) at the CECAD Research Centre of the University of Cologne

“How can we target the causal mechanisms of aging to extend healthy lifespan?”

Since 2013, Björn Schumacher is full professor and director of the Institute for Genome Stability in Aging and Diseases (IGSAD) at the CECAD Research Centre of the University of Cologne. He received his PhD at the Max Planck Institute for Biochemistry, Munich, and conducted his postdoctoral research at the Erasmus Medical Centre, Rotterdam. Schumacher is President of the German Society for DNA Repair (DGDR), and speaker of the DFG Research Unit on “Physiological causes and consequences of genome instability”. He was awarded with the Eva Luise Köhler Research Prize, the Innovation Prize of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia, the DFG Reinhart Koselleck and European Research Council (ERC) grants, coordinated the Marie Curie initial training network on chronic DNA damage in aging and served on several editorial boards. His research interest focuses on the molecular mechanisms through which DNA damage causes cancer and aging-associated diseases and aims to develop strategies to prevent aging-associated diseases.

Andrei Seluanov

University of Rochester

“What is the role of transposons in aging and disease development?”

Andrei Seluanov is a Dean’s Professor of Biology and Medicine at the University of Rochester. His research is focused on understanding the mechanisms of longevity and cancer resistance, and long-lived mammals. He studies the longest-lived mammalian species, such as the naked mole rats, the blind mole rat, and the bowhead whale. Dr. Seluanov received his B.Sc. degree at Saint Petersburg State University, Russia, and his Ph.D. at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel. Dr. Seluanov pioneered a comparative biology approach to study aging and identified rules that control the evolution of tumor suppressor mechanisms depending on the species’ lifespan and body mass. Dr. Seluanov identified high molecular weight hyaluronan as the key mediator of cancer resistance in the naked mole rat. More recently, he demonstrated that transposable elements are the drivers of age-related inflammation. His work was recognized by the Cozzarelli Prize from PNAS, the Prince Hitachi Prize in Comparative Oncology, Japan, and the Davey Prize from Wilmot Cancer Center.

Sebastien Thuault

Nature Aging

“Confirming that the geroscience hypothesis – the idea that biological aging is the root cause of many age-related diseases – is true in humans would be transformative, but we still need to rigorously, comprehensively, and causally test this hypothesis, including across various populations”.

Sebastien Thuault is the Chief Editor of Nature Aging, a peer-reviewed scientific journal that publishes research, reviews and opinion articles on aging and age-related diseases covering the life, health and social sciences. Dr Thuault holds a PhD in neuroscience and has been working in scientific publishing and communication for over 10 years. He was formerly an editor at Nature Neuroscience and Nature Communications and launched Nature Aging in 2021.

Claus Azzalin

GIMM, Lisbon School of Medicine

“How can we reliably quantify biological aging – beyond chronological age – and guide early interventions?”

Claus M. Azzalin earned his PhD in Genetics and Molecular Biology from the University of Pavia (Italy) in 2000. He began his postdoctoral training in 2001 at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in New York (USA), followed by a second postdoctoral position in 2002 at the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research in Lausanne (Switzerland). In 2008, he became a Junior Group Leader and Assistant Professor for Genome Stability at the Institute of Biochemistry of ETH Zurich (Switzerland).

In October 2016, he joined the Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes in Lisbon—now GIMM—as Group Leader of the Telomeres and Telomere Transcription in Cancer and Aging Unit. Since 2021, he also serves as Invited Associate Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, University of Lisbon.

During his postdoctoral work, Claus discovered that mammalian telomeres are transcribed into a long noncoding RNA known as TERRA. This multifunctional transcript has since been identified and studied across a broad range of eukaryotes. His laboratory has extensively investigated the biological significance and functional roles of TERRA, particularly in maintaining telomere and genome stability in both normal and pathological contexts, including cancer and aging.Among several distinctions, Claus received the FCT CEEC Individual Award – Principal Investigator (2022), an EMBO Installation Grant (2017), an FCT Investigator Programme award (2016), the EMBO Young Investigator Award (2012), and a Swiss National Science Foundation Professorship (2009). He currently serves as an Academic Editor for FEBS Letters and is co-founder of TessellateBio, a precision oncology startup established in the Netherlands in 2020.

Cláudia Faria

GIMM, Lisbon School of Medicine, Unidade Local de Saúde Santa Maria

In 2014, I obtained my PhD in Medicine, under the supervision of Prof. James Rutka (University of Toronto) and Prof. João Lobo Antunes (University of Lisbon). My PhD work was developed at the Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre and focused on using genomics for drug discovery in medulloblastoma. I have identified c-MET as a prognostic marker in medulloblastoma, the most common malignant brain tumor in children, and demonstrated the efficacy of a small molecule inhibitor (foretinib) in treating mouse models of metastatic disease. Using a bioinformatic platform for drug discovery, I have identified and validated alsterpaullone (cell cycle inhibitor), as an effective drug to treat MYC-driven metastatic medulloblastoma. I became involved in a large genomics consortium in medulloblastoma (MAGIC), led by Michael D. Taylor (University of Toronto), which led to seminal discoveries and publications in the field. The experience acquired in the development of patient-derived models of brain tumors and the tools developed to study the process of cancer progression, dissemination and resistance to therapy, paved the way to my current research projects.

In 2014, I became clinician-scientist at Centro Académico de Medicina de Lisboa (CAML) and I started an appointment as Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery and Neurology at the Lisbon Medical School. I joined João Barata Lab at the Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes (iMM), as a postdoc in 2015 to continue studying the molecular biology of brain tumors and to use genomics on human tumor samples to identify novel biomarkers and targets for therapy. To this end, I have founded the Brain Tumor Bank at the institutional Biobank (Biobanco-iMM CAML) which harbours biological samples (tumor tissue, blood, plasma and cerebrospinal fluid) from over 2,800 children and adults with brain tumors. I have secured funding to develop my research projects, including competitive calls from the Portuguese National Funding Agency (Fundação para a Ciência e Tecnologia, FCT), Liga Portuguesa contra o Cancro, Gilead Génese, Fundação Millennium BCP and Fundação Amélia de Mello. In May 2023, I became Head of the Brain Cancer Dynamics and Therapy, Translational Lab. We have developed unique in vitro and in vivo patient-derived models of brain metastases from multiple cancer types. The patient-derived xenografts mimic the pattern of dissemination and the transcriptional profile of the donor patient, and targeted therapies were effectively tested. Using RNA sequencing in human brain metastases from multiple primary tumors, we have identified UBE2C as a marker of poor prognosis in patients with brain metastases, and a trigger of leptomeningeal dissemination in mouse xenografts. This aggressive phenotype was successfully prevented by PI3K/mTOR inhibitors. My research projects are driven by clinical questions, and I am a strong promoter of multidisciplinary research. In 2025 I was elected to the position of Director of GIMM CARE.

Alexandra Lopes

Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto

Alexandra Lopes is an associate professor of Sociology at the University of Porto. She holds a PhD in Social Policy from the London School of Economics, with a thesis on social protection and social assistance systems in familistic-type countries. Her research interests primarily focus on long-term care and assistance systems, based on analytical frameworks of person-centered care, autonomous and independent living, and inclusion.

She is the author of over 70 publications and has participated in more than 15 research projects related to these themes. Alexandra has worked with the European Commission and the World Health Organization on issues related to population aging and its challenges. She currently coordinates the Portuguese research team that recently received funding under the Horizon Europe program to explore innovative approaches to social care, aimed at promoting community-based, inclusive, and person-centered solutions.

Amílcar Moreira

ISEG-ULisboa e Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos

With a PhD in Social Policy from the University of Bath (United Kingdom), he is currently a Visiting Assistant Professor at ISEG, Superior Institute of Economics and Management of the University of Lisbon; and a Researcher at SOCIUS, Research Center in Economic and Organizational Sociology.

Previously, he worked as a researcher at Trinity College Dublin and Oslo Metropolitan University. Having specialized in the study of social policies, particularly pension systems and minimum income programs, he has published work with international publishers, such as Oxford University Press or Policy Press; and in specialized international journals – including Social Policy & Administration, European Journal of Social Security, Journal of Population Aging and European Journal of Ageing. He coordinated the study on the “Sustainability of the Portuguese Pension System” for the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation.

Ana Markl

Ana Markl masters the art of transforming everyday life into captivating stories. Passionate about exploring humor and social critique, she turns complex themes into light and engaging conversations. With a sharp vision and a relaxed approach, she inspires and challenges her audience to look at the world through new and refreshing perspectives.

Bruno Nogueira

Bruno Nogueira divides his career between theater, television, and radio.

In theater, he participated in several shows staged by Beatriz Batarda, Marco Martins, and Tiago Guedes, among others. He is the creator of the show Deixem o Pimba em Paz (2013), where, alongside Manuela Azevedo, he deconstructs the most emblematic themes of pimba music.

On television, he stands out in programs “Levanta-te e Ri”, “Manobras de Diversão”, “Lado B”, “Contemporâneos”, of which he was also a co-creator. He created, wrote, and acted in the series “Último a Sair” (RTP) and “Odisseia” (RTP), “Som de Cristal” (SIC), alongside Miguel Esteves Cardoso in “Fugiram de Casa dos Seus Pais” (RTP), “Sara” (RTP), “Princípio, Meio e Fim” (SIC), “Tabu” (SIC).

On radio, he is the author, together with João Quadros, of “Tubo de Ensaio” on TSF and “Mata-Bicho” on Antena 3.

At the end of 2018, he returned to Stand-Up Comedy after a 10-year hiatus, with the show Depois do Medo. In October 2019, he presents the show in Lisbon, at the Teatro Nacional Dona Maria II. He concludes the tour at Altice Arena, being the first comedian to sell out that venue for a solo show.

During the pandemic, he created an Instagram project called “Como é que o Bicho Mexe”. In December 2023, the show “Um Nêspera no Cu” sells out 3 dates at Altice Arena.

He has a podcast called “isso não se diz” and has been writing a weekly chronicle for Revista Sábado called “Talvez Crónica” since November 2022.

He really loves the life he has.

Cirenia Arias Baldrich

@Cireniasketches

Cirenia Arias Baldrich is a freelance illustrator specialising in science communication. Born in La Línea de La Concepción, Cádiz, with a PhD in Molecular Biology and extensive research experience, she helps institutions and researchers to communicate science in a visual way. Her work in making science more accessible has been recognised and used by clients both nationally and internationally. She also teaches courses, workshops and conferences to promote the importance of illustration in science communication. She loves vinyl records, books, travelling, walks by the sea, and flea markets. You can follow her project and say hello at @CireniaSketches

Cláudia Faria

GIMM, Lisbon School of Medicine, Unidade Local de Saúde Santa Maria

Cláudia Faria received her medical degree by the University of Coimbra (Portugal) in 2001. She did her residency in the Department of Neurosurgery at Hospital de Santa Maria – Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte (CHULN, Lisbon, Portugal), and became a board-certified Neurosurgeon in 2010.

Due to her interest in the genetics of brain tumors, particularly in the pediatric population, she did her PhD at the Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre, The Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto, Canada) under the supervision of Professor James T. Rutka. Using the genetic signatures of medulloblastoma (a malignant pediatric brain tumor) she studied the mechanisms of tumor recurrence and dissemination, and identified novel small molecule inhibitors that were successfully tested in preclinical models of the disease.

In 2014 Cláudia Faria returned to Lisbon and became clinician-scientist at the Lisbon Academic Medical Centre (CAML). She joined as post-doc in the Lab of João Barata at Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes (iMM), to continue studying the molecular biology of brain tumors and to use genomics on human tumor samples to identify novel biomarkers and targets for therapy. She successfully developed patient-derived models of brain tumors, which recapitulate human disease.

Currently, Cláudia Faria is a Consultant Neurosurgeon, specialized in Pediatric Neurosurgery, at Hospital de Santa Maria (ULSSM, Lisbon), Assistant Professor of Neurosurgery at the Lisbon Medical School and Principal Investigator of the Brain Cancer Dynamics and Therapy Translational Lab at the Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine (GIMM). She was co-Director of the GIMM-Biobank from 2018-2025, being responsible to supervise and coordinate the activities of scientific and technical committees, to foster the collaboration between medical doctors and researchers and to promote dissemination and fundraising actions for scientific research. She is also founder and coordinator of the Brain Tumor Bank at the GIMM-Biobank, which harbors biological samples from over 3,000 patients with brain tumors (pediatric and adult), with detailed clinical information.

Cláudia Faria secured competitive funding from national and international grants. She has published 63 scientific articles. Her publications have been cited >6,500 times (H index: 31; i10 index: 39), and include high-profile articles published in major journals (Nature, Nature Communications, Nature Medicine, Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer Cell, etc.). She has supervision experience (7 PhD students, 16 MSc students and 2 post-doctoral fellow and 15 Medical Residents and Specialists).

Since 2018 Cláudia Faria is the Portuguese representative in the Board of National Directors of the European translational network EATRIS-ERIC and in November 2020 she was elected Chair of the Board of National Directors of EATRIS.

Cláudia Faria was appointed GIMM-CARE Director in May 2025 to help fostering clinical and translational research, through a research programme that provides training, mentoring and funding opportunities to healthcare professionals.

Hugo Van der Ding

Hugo van der Ding (1978) was born by accident in Paris, during his mother’s visit — an Italian from San Remo — to the Catacombs of the city of light and received the surname of one of three Dutchmen who, by dates, could be his father. He studied Architecture at the Universidad de Gran Colombia in Bogotá, with a PhD in Rural Urbanism. He signed important works in the capital and in Medellín, such as La Catedral, the famous prison designed for Pablo Escobar. He came to Lisbon in 2010 as a messenger for the Colombian Embassy and stayed after the end of his mission, living by writing, drawing, doing radio, and begging. Despite his Nordic appearance, he has his mother’s eyes. Inside a jar.

Joana Neves

GIMM, Lisbon School of Medicine

Joana Neves is a Group Leader at GIMM Lisbon, co-directing the Aging and Tissue Repair joint lab. She is interested in understanding how immune modulation can be harnessed to improve stem cell function and regenerative therapies in aging. Joana Neves received her PhD in 2009 from Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain. During her postdoctoral work, at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, she discovered the immune modulatory and anti-geronic properties of MANF and its use for retinal regenerative therapies. Joana Neves is now dedicated to the study of regenerative biology in aging, aiming to design interventions to improve regenerative therapies in older humans. She received several awards, including the 2019 Sartorius and Science Prize in Regenerative Medicine and Cell Therapy.

Luísa Lopes

GIMM, Lisbon School of Medicine

Luísa Lopes is a neuroscientist, coordinator of a research group at GIMM – Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine and Professor of Neurosciences at the Faculty of Medicine in Lisbon. She graduated in Biochemistry from the Faculty of Sciences in Lisbon and later obtained her PhD in Neurosciences from the Faculty of Medicine at the same University.

She worked at the universities of Cambridge in the United Kingdom and the Karolinska Institute in Stockholm, Sweden during her doctoral studies. In 2003, she joined the Nestlé Research Center in Lausanne, Switzerland, as a postdoctoral neuroscientist, before returning to Lisbon, where she established her own research team in 2008, obtaining Researcher positions from the Foundation for Science and Technology in national competitions in 2013, 2018, and 2022. Her work focuses on synaptic mechanisms of aging, with impact on memory; and on developing animal aging models to study cognitive deficit and neurodegeneration.

She has published over 60 articles and book chapters in international scientific journals, including reference journals such as Nature Neuroscience, Science Immunology, and Molecular Psychiatry, and has supervised 9 doctoral students in her team. She belongs to various Portuguese and international scientific societies, notably having been a member of the Board of the Portuguese Neuroscience Society between 2008 and 2011.

She is a member of the Scientific Council of the Faculty of Medicine and the coordination team of the Biomedical Research Master’s program. She is also responsible for the Lisbon Chapter of the American Society for Neuroscience (SFN Lx Chapter). In 2018, her team won the Mantero Belard Prize – Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, in 2020 the Pfizer Biomedical Research Prize, and in 2021 the Interstellar Initiative Prize for “Healthy Aging and Longevity” from the New York Academy of Sciences. In 2021, she received her Aggregation degree in Neurosciences from the Faculty of Medicine in Lisbon, and in 2022 was granted the University of Lisbon-Caixa Geral de Depósitos prize for her scientific curriculum in Biomedicine.

Since 2013, she has been actively involved in scientific communication to society, participating in the RTP program “Os Extraordinários” as an expert, and writing texts for various publications, notably with regular contributions to Público and Líder magazine, and in 2024 participated in the In Pertinente podcast of the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation.

Maria Mota

GIMM, Lisbon School of Medicine

Maria Mota graduated in Biology and obtained a Master’s degree in Immunology from the University of Porto. In 1998, she completed her PhD in Molecular Parasitology at University College London, United Kingdom.

She developed postdoctoral research in Professor Vitor Nussenzweig’s laboratory at New York University Medical School, United States, where she also taught. In 2002, she returned to Portugal to lead the Malaria Cell Biology research group at the Gulbenkian Institute of Science (IGC) in Oeiras. Simultaneously, she taught at the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Lisbon and was a Visiting Professor at Harvard School of Public Health, USA.

In 2005, Maria Mota became a principal investigator at the Malaria Unit in the Institute of Molecular Medicine (iMM), where she served as Executive Director from 2014 to 2024. With the recent merger between iMM and IGC, she was elected CEO of the newly created GIMM – Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine.

The focus of her scientific work is malaria, investigating both phases of infection (hepatic and blood) caused by the Plasmodium parasite in the human host.

Throughout her career, Maria M. Mota has been distinguished with several prestigious awards. She received the EMBO Young Investigator Award (2003) and the European Young Investigator Award from the European Science Foundation (2004). Between 2005 and 2010, she was an international researcher at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (USA). In 2016, she was elected a member of the European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) and, in 2017, won the Pfizer Prize. The following year, she was awarded the Sanofi – Institut Pasteur Prize in the Mid-Career category.

In Portugal, she was decorated by the President of the Republic with the Order of Infante D. Henrique (2005) and received the Pessoa Prize (2013). In 2019, she was distinguished with the Dona Antónia – Career Consecration Award and, in 2024, was honored with the Scientific Merit Medal by FCT.

Beyond her work in science, Maria M. Mota is an active voice in defending women’s rights and equal opportunities in education. Currently, she collaborates with a monthly opinion column in the Expresso newspaper, where she shares her vision for a knowledge-centered society.

Rita Blanco

Born on January 11, 1963, in Lisbon, Rita Blanco is a Portuguese actress in theater, television, and cinema, recognized for her versatility and intensity in performances. She began her acting career at 18, having attended the Higher School of Theater and Cinema and the National Conservatory, where she completed her training.

She made her cinema debut in 1982 with the films Le Cercle des Passions, by Claude D’Anna, and Ninguém Duas Vezes, by Jorge Silva Melo. Two years later, she worked with Manoel de Oliveira in the film Le Soulier de Satin. In 1987, she began a long collaboration with director João Canijo, with whom she has developed multiple projects in cinema, theater, and television. Her performance in Três Menos Eu earned her selection for the Les Stars de Demain Festival in Geneva. She has also worked with other renowned Portuguese directors, such as João César Monteiro, João Botelho, and João Mário Grilo.

Her theater debut was in 1983 with the play Mariana Espera Casamento, staged by Luís Miguel Cintra. She became known to the general public mainly through her television presence, which began in 1990 with the comedy series Casino Royale, by Herman José. She participated in several comedy programs, such as Crime na Pensão Estrelinha and Hermanias Especial, and was a commentator on the program A Noite da Má Língua. Her recognition by the public and critics on the small screen was consolidated in 1998 with her participation in the series Médico de Família, on SIC.

In cinema, Rita Blanco already has 59 films in her curriculum. Among her future goals, Rita wishes to debut as a director, do theater for children, and have land to rescue more animals, reflecting a personal commitment to causes dear to her.

Sibila Marques

ISCTE-IUL

Sibila Marques is an Assistant Professor at ISCTE-IUL and an integrated member of the Research and Social Intervention Center (CIS-IUL). She is the director of the Master’s in Social Health Psychology at Iscte. She has developed her work mainly in two areas:

Environmental Psychology and Aging Psychology. She has several publications with impact in scientific journals and has collaborated on various national and international projects in the fields of environmental and aging psychology.

She is the author of the essay “Age Discrimination”, published by the Francisco Manuel dos Santos Foundation. More recently, she collaborated as an expert on the Global Report against ageism with the World Health Organization.

Yang Yang

Cell

“In recent years, we’ve collected an increasing amount of omic data for aging in both human and other model species. How to integrate such information for us to understand aging and longevity on a systematic level; how to identify “biomarkers” for us to better define aging and longevity; how to take advantage of artificial intelligence technologies in the aging/longevity field.”

Yang Yang joined Cell team as a Scientific Editor in 2019. She earned her Ph.D. at Peking University. After that, she did her post-doctoral work at Michigan State University.

Nele Hug

Nature Communications

Bio coming soon.

Cirenia Arias Baldrich

CireniaSketches

“To what extent can external factors (including environmental and lifestyle influences) affect our lifespan, and to what degree is our longevity determined by biological predispositions?”

Cirenia Arias Baldrich is a freelance illustrator specialising in science communication. Born in La Línea de La Concepción, Cádiz, with a PhD in Molecular Biology and extensive research experience, she helps institutions and researchers to communicate science in a visual way. Her work in making science more accessible has been recognised and used by clients both nationally and internationally. She also teaches courses, workshops and conferences to promote the importance of illustration in science communication. She loves vinyl records, books, travelling, walks by the sea, and flea markets. You can follow her project and say hello at @CireniaSketches

Brian Kennedy

Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore, National University Health System

Dr. Brian Kennedy is a Distinguished Professor in the Departments of Biochemistry and Physiology and also serves as the Programme Chair of the Healthy Longevity Translational Research Programme and Director of the Bia-Echo Asia Centre for Reproductive Longevity and Equality, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University Singapore. In addition, he is also the Director of the Centre for Healthy Longevity, National University Health System. Collectively, NUS ageing research seeks to demonstrate that longevity interventions can be successfully employed in humans to extend healthspan, the disease-free and highly functional period of life.
From 2010 to 2016, Dr. Kennedy was the President and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, USA and he maintained a professorship there through 2020. Dr. Kennedy is also actively involved with a number of Biotechnology companies and also served as a Co-Editor-In-Chief at Aging Cell from 2011-2021. Finally, Dr. Kennedy has a track record of interaction in China, where he was a Visiting Professor at the Aging Research Institute at Guangdong Medical College from 2009 to 2014.
Affiliation(s)
(1) Distinguished Professor of Biochemistry & Physiology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS
(2) Director, Centre for Healthy Longevity, National University Health System (NUHS)
(3) Programme Chair, Healthy Longevity Translational Research Programme, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, NUS

Pedro Sousa-Victor

GIMM, Lisbon School of Medicine

“Can we regenerate organs indefinitely to extend life?”

Pedro Sousa-Victor is a Group Leader at GIMM Lisbon, co-directing the Aging and Tissue Repair joint lab. He is interested in understanding how stem cells age and how we can use stem cell-based therapies to rejuvenate organs.  Pedro Sousa-Victor received his PhD in 2012 from Pompeu Fabra University, in Barcelona, Spain. His PhD work and postdoctoral training at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging have been dedicated to understanding the molecular mechanisms of stem cell aging and rejuvenation. Pedro Sousa-Victor is now expanding this work to integrate immune-stem cell communication as a central aspect of regenerative decline in aging. He has received multiple distinctions, including the 2019 Junior Leader award from la Caixa Foundation and an ERC consolidator grant.

Joana Neves

GIMM, Lisbon School of Medicine

“Can we use our immune system to make our organs regenerate in aging?”

Joana Neves is a Group Leader at GIMM Lisbon, co-directing the Aging and Tissue Repair joint lab. She is interested in understanding how immune modulation can be harnessed to improve stem cell function and regenerative therapies in aging. Joana Neves received her PhD in 2009 from Pompeu Fabra University in Barcelona, Spain. During her postdoctoral work, at the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, she discovered the immune modulatory and anti-geronic properties of MANF and its use for retinal regenerative therapies. Joana Neves is now dedicated to the study of regenerative biology in aging, aiming to design interventions to improve regenerative therapies in older humans. She received several awards, including the 2019 Sartorius and Science Prize in Regenerative Medicine and Cell Therapy.

Miguel Godinho Ferreira 

Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), Institute for Research on Cancer and Aging of Nice (IRCAN)

“Aging is still very poorly defined and, as empirical scientists, we must devise clear assays to measure the impact of time on organisms”

Miguel Godinho Ferreira is a leading expert in telomere biology, DNA damage responses, and senescence, with research spanning fission yeast and zebrafish. Since 2006, he has led independent research teams, first at the Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (Portugal) and later, in 2017, as Directeur de Recherche at the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (France). Awarded the HHMI International Early Career Scientist Award in 2012, he pioneered the use of zebrafish as a vertebrate model for telomere biology, uncovering how telomere shortening drives aging and cancer. His research demonstrated that gut-specific telomerase expression mitigates systemic aging, benefiting distant organs. He also revealed that telomere shortening fosters a pro-inflammatory microenvironment that promotes cancer with age. Using transgenic zebrafish, he aims to suppress telomere dysfunction in order to enhance tissue regeneration and mitigate age-related diseases, particularly cancer.

Affiliation(s)
Directeur de Recherche au Centre national de la recherche scientifique (CNRS), France
Team Leader at Institute for Research on Cancer and Aging of Nice (IRCAN), Université Côte d’Azur, CNRS UMR7284, INSERM U1081, UNS. 28 avenue de Valombrose, 06107 NICE CEDEX 2, FRANCE.