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, Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa

“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, Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa, 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.

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, Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa

“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, Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa

“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.

Alexandra Lopes

Faculdade de Letras da Universidade do Porto

Alexandra Lopes é professora agregada de Sociologia na Universidade do Porto. É doutorada em Política Social pela London School of Economics, com uma tese sobre os sistemas de proteção social e assistência social em países de tipo familista. Os seus interesses de investigação centram-se principalmente nos cuidados prolongados e nos sistemas de assistência, com base nos quadros analíticos dos cuidados centrados na pessoa, da vida autónoma e independente e da inclusão.

É autora de mais de 70 publicações e participou em mais de 15 projetos de investigação relacionados com estes temas. Alexandra tem trabalhado com a Comissão Europeia e com a Organização Mundial de Saúde em temas relacionados com o envelhecimento da população e seus desafios. Coordena, atualmente, a equipa de investigação portuguesa que recebeu recentemente um financiamento no âmbito do programa Horizonte Europa para explorar abordagens inovadoras aos cuidados sociais, com vista a promover soluções comunitárias, inclusivas e centradas na pessoa.

Amílcar Moreira

ISEG-ULisboa e Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos

Doutorado em Política Social pela Universidade de Bath (Reino Unido), é, atualmente, Professor Auxiliar Convidado no ISEG, Instituto Superior de Economia e Gestão da Universidade de Lisboa; e Investigador do SOCIUS, Centro de Investigação em Sociologia Económica e das Organizações.

Anteriormente, exerceu funções enquanto investigador no Trinity College Dublin e na Oslo Metropolitan University. Tendo-se especializado no estudo de políticas sociais, nomeadamente sistemas de pensões e programas de rendimento mínimo, tem obra publicada em editoras internacionais, como Oxford University Press ou Policy Press; ou em revistas internacionais da especialidade – como Social Policy & Administration, European Journal of Social Security, Journal of Population Aging e European Journal of Ageing. Coordenou o estudo sobre a «Sustentabilidade do Sistema de Pensões Português» da Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos.

Ana Markl

Ana Markl domina a arte de transformar o quotidiano em histórias cativantes. Apaixonada por explorar o humor e a crítica social, torna temas complexos em conversas leves e envolventes. Com uma visão aguçada e uma abordagem descontraída, inspira e desafia o público a olhar para o mundo com perspectivas novas e refrescantes.

Bruno Nogueira

Bruno Nogueira divide a sua carreira entre o teatro, a televisão e a rádio

No teatro participou em vários espectáculos encenados por Beatriz Batarda, Marco Martins e Tiago Guedes, entre outros. É o criador do espetáculo Deixem o Pimba em Paz (2013), onde, ao lado de Manuela Azevedo, desconstroi os temas mais emblemáticos do cancioneiro pimba.

Na televisão ganhou destaca-se nos programas “Levanta-te e Ri”, “Manobras de Diversão”, “Lado B”, “Contemporâneos”, do qual também foi co-criador. Criou, escreveu e atuou nas séries “Último a Sair” (RTP) e “Odisseia” (RTP), “Som de Cristal” (SIC), ao lado de Miguel Esteves Cardoso em “Fugiram de Casa dos Seus Pais” (RTP), “Sara” (RTP), “Princípio, Meio e Fim” (SIC), “Tabu” (SIC) .

Na rádio é autor, juntamente com João Quadros do “Tubo de Ensaio” na TSF e “Mata-Bicho” na Antena 3.

No final de 2018 regressou ao Stand Up, após um interregno de 10 anos, com o espectáculo Depois do Medo. Em Outubro de 2019 apresenta o espectáculo em Lisboa, no Teatro Nacional Dona Maria II. Termina a digressão na Altice Arena, sendo a primeira vez que um comediante esgota essa sala para um espectáculo a solo.

Durante a pandemia criou um projeto no Instagram chamado “Como é que o Bicho Mexe”. Em Dezembro de 2023 o espectáculo “Um Nêspera no Cu” esgota 3 datas na Altice Arena.

Tem um podcast chamado “isso não se diz” e assina, desde Novembro de 2022, a crónica semanal da Revista Sábado “Talvez Crónica”.

Gosta muito da vida que tem.

Cirenia Arias Baldrich

@Cireniasketches

Cirenia Arias Baldrich é uma ilustradora freelancer especializada em comunicação científica. Nascida em La Línea de La Concepción, Cádiz, com um doutoramento em Biologia Molecular e vasta experiência de investigação, ajuda instituições e investigadores a comunicar ciência de forma visual. O seu trabalho em tornar a ciência mais acessível tem sido reconhecido e utilizado por clientes a nível nacional e internacional. Também leciona cursos, workshops e conferências para promover a importância da ilustração na comunicação científica. Adora discos de vinil, livros, viagens, passeios à beira-mar e mercados de velharias. Pode acompanhar o seu projeto e dizer olá em @CireniaSketches

Cláudia Faria

GIMM, Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa, Unidade Local de Saúde Santa Maria

Cláudia Faria obteve o seu grau de médica pela Universidade de Coimbra (Portugal) em 2001. Realizou a sua residência no Departamento de Neurocirurgia no Hospital de Santa Maria – Centro Hospitalar Universitário Lisboa Norte (CHULN, Lisboa, Portugal), e tornou-se Neurocirurgiã certificada em 2010.

Devido ao seu interesse na genética de tumores cerebrais, particularmente na população pediátrica, realizou o seu Doutoramento no Arthur and Sonia Labatt Brain Tumour Research Centre, Hospital for Sick Children (Toronto, Canadá) sob a supervisão do Professor James T. Rutka. Utilizando as assinaturas genéticas do medulloblastoma (um tumor cerebral pediátrico maligno), estudou os mecanismos de recorrência e disseminação do tumor e identificou novos inibidores de moléculas pequenas que foram testados com sucesso em modelos pré-clínicos da doença.

Em 2014, Cláudia Faria regressou a Lisboa e tornou-se médica-investigadora no Centro Académico de Medicina de Lisboa (CAML). Juntou-se como pós-doutoranda no Laboratório de João Barata no Instituto de Medicina Molecular João Lobo Antunes (iMM), para continuar a estudar a biologia molecular de tumores cerebrais e usar a genómica em amostras de tumores humanos para identificar novos biomarcadores e alvos terapêuticos. Desenvolveu com sucesso modelos derivados de doentes de tumores cerebrais, que reproduzem a doença humana.

Atualmente, Cláudia Faria é Neurocirurgiã Consultora, especializada em Neurocirurgia Pediátrica, no Hospital de Santa Maria (ULSSM, Lisboa), Professora Auxiliar de Neurocirurgia na Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa e Investigadora Principal do Laboratório Translacional de Dinâmica e Terapia do Cancro Cerebral no Instituto Gulbenkian de Medicina Molecular (GIMM).
Foi Co-Diretora do Biobanco GIMM de 2018 a 2025, sendo responsável por supervisionar e coordenar as atividades das comissões científicas e técnicas, fomentar a colaboração entre médicos e investigadores e promover ações de divulgação e angariação de fundos para investigação científica. É também fundadora e coordenadora do Banco de Tumores Cerebrais no Biobanco GIMM, que abriga amostras biológicas de mais de 3.000 doentes com tumores cerebrais (pediátricos e adultos), com informação clínica detalhada.

Cláudia Faria obteve financiamento competitivo de bolsas nacionais e internacionais. Publicou 63 artigos científicos. As suas publicações foram citadas mais de 6.500 vezes (Índice H: 31; Índice i10: 39), e incluem artigos de alto perfil publicados em revistas principais (Nature, Nature Communications, Nature Medicine, Lancet Oncology, Journal of Clinical Oncology, Cancer Cell, etc.). Tem experiência de supervisão (7 estudantes de Doutoramento, 16 estudantes de Mestrado, 2 pós-doutorados e 15 Médicos Residentes e Especialistas).

Desde 2018, Cláudia Faria é a representante portuguesa no Conselho de Diretores Nacionais da rede translacional europeia EATRIS-ERIC e em novembro de 2020 foi eleita Presidente do Conselho de Diretores Nacionais da EATRIS.

Cláudia Faria foi nomeada Diretora do GIMM-CARE em maio de 2025 para ajudar a promover a investigação clínica e translacional, através de um programa de investigação que fornece oportunidades de formação, mentoria e financiamento a profissionais de saúde.

Hugo Van der Ding

Hugo van der Ding (1978) nasceu por acidente em Paris, durante uma visita da mãe — uma italiana de San Remo — às Catacumbas da cidade-luz e recebeu o apelido de um de três holandeses que, pelas datas, poderiam ser o seu pai. Estudou Arquitetura na Universidad de Gran Colombia em Bogotá, com doutoramento em Urbanismo Rural. Assinou importante obra na capital e em Medellín, como La Catedral, a famosa prisão desenhada para Pablo Escobar. Veio para Lisboa em 2010 como moço de recados da Embaixada da Colômbia e por cá ficou depois do final da missão, vivendo de escrever, desenhar, fazer rádio e de esmolas. Apesar da aparência nórdica, tem os olhos da mãe. Dentro de um frasco.

Joana Neves

GIMM, Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa

Joana Neves é investigadora principal no GIMM Lisboa, co-dirigindo o laboratório conjunto de Envelhecimento e Reparação Tecidular. Está interessada em compreender como a modulação imunológica pode ser aproveitada para melhorar a função das células estaminais e terapias regenerativas no envelhecimento. Joana Neves obteve o seu doutoramento em 2009 na Universidade Pompeu Fabra em Barcelona, Espanha. Durante o seu trabalho de pós-doutoramento, no Buck Institute for Research on Aging, descobriu as propriedades imunomoduladoras e anti-gerónticas do MANF e a sua utilização em terapias regenerativas da retina. Joana Neves está agora dedicada ao estudo da biologia regenerativa no envelhecimento, com o objetivo de conceber intervenções para melhorar as terapias regenerativas em humanos mais velhos. Recebeu vários prémios, incluindo o Prémio Sartorius e Science em Medicina Regenerativa e Terapia Celular em 2019.

Luísa Lopes

GIMM, Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa

Luísa Lopes é neurocientista, coordenadora de um grupo de investigação na Fundação GIMM – Instituto Gulbenkian de Medicina Molecular e Professora de Neurociências na Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa. Licenciou-se em Bioquímica na Faculdade de Ciências de Lisboa e mais tarde doutorou-se em Neurociências na Faculdade de Medicina da mesma Universidade.

Trabalhou nas universidades de Cambridge, no Reino Unido, e no Instituto Karolinska em Estocolmo, na Suécia, durante o Doutoramento. Em 2003, integrou o Centro de Investigação da Nestlé em Lausanne, na Suíça, como neurocientista pós-doutorada, antes de regressar a Lisboa, onde a partir de 2008 estabeleceu a sua própria equipa de investigação, tendo em 2013, 2018 e 2022 obtido posições de Investigador da Fundação para Ciência e Tecnologia em concursos nacionais. O seu trabalho centra-se nos mecanismos sinápticos do envelhecimento, com impacto na memória; e no desenvolvimento de modelos animais de envelhecimento para estudar o défice cognitivo e neurodegeneração.

Tem mais de 60 artigos e capítulos de livros publicados em revistas científicas internacionais, incluindo revistas de referência na área, tal como Nature Neuroscience, Science Immunology ou Molecular Psychiatry e doutorou 9 estudantes na sua equipa. Pertence a várias sociedades científicas portuguesas e internacionais, destacando-se ter sido membro da Direcção da Sociedade Portuguesa de Neurociências entre 2008 e 2011.

É membro do Conselho Científico da Faculdade de Medicina e da equipa de coordenação do Mestrado em Investigação Biomédica. É também a responsável pelo Núcleo da Sociedade Americana de Neurociências em Lisboa (SFN Lx Chapter). Em 2018 a sua equipa ganhou o Prémio Mantero Belard – Santa Casa da Misericórdia de Lisboa, em 2020 o prémio Pfizer em Investigação Biomédica, e em 2021 o Prémio Interstellar Initiative para “Healthy Aging and Longevity” da Academia de Ciências de Nova Iorque. Em 2021 recebeu o seu grau de Agregação em Neurociências da Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa e em 2022 foi-lhe concedido o prémio Universidade de Lisboa-Caixa Geral de Depósitos pelo seu currículo científico na área de Biomedicina.

Desde 2013 que tem tentado ter um papel ativo na divulgação científica à sociedade, tendo participado no programa da RTP “Os Extraordinários” como especialista, e assina textos em publicações variadas, destacando-se com a colaboração regular com o Público e a revista Líder e em 2024 participou no podcast In Pertinente da Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos.

Maria Mota

GIMM, Faculdade de Medicina de Lisboa

Maria Mota licenciou-se em Biologia e obteve o grau de Mestre em Imunologia pela Universidade do Porto. Em 1998, concluiu o doutoramento em Parasitologia Molecular na University College London, Reino Unido.

Desenvolveu investigação como pós-doutorada no laboratório do Professor Vitor Nussenzweig na New York University Medical School, nos Estados Unidos, onde também lecionou. Em 2002, regressou a Portugal para liderar o grupo de investigação em Biologia Celular da Malária no Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência (IGC), em Oeiras. Paralelamente, lecionou na Faculdade de Medicina da Universidade de Lisboa e foi Professora Convidada na Harvard School of Public Health, nos EUA.

Em 2005, Maria Mota tornou-se investigadora principal da Unidade de Malária no Instituto de Medicina Molecular (iMM), onde exerceu a função de Diretora Executiva de 2014 a 2024. Com a recente fusão entre o iMM e o IGC, foi eleita CEO da recém-criada Fundação GIMM – Gulbenkian Institute for Molecular Medicine.

O foco do seu trabalho científico é a malária, investigando ambas as fases da infeção (hepática e sanguínea) provocada pelo parasita Plasmodium no hospedeiro humano.

Ao longo da sua carreira, Maria M. Mota foi distinguida com vários prémios prestigiados. Recebeu o EMBO Young Investigator Award (2003) e o European Young Investigator Award da European Science Foundation (2004). Entre 2005 e 2010, foi investigadora internacional do Howard Hughes Medical Institute (EUA). Em 2016, foi eleita membro da European Molecular Biology Organization (EMBO) e, em 2017, venceu o Prémio Pfizer. No ano seguinte, foi galardoada com o Prémio Sanofi – Institut Pasteur na categoria de Mid-Career.

Em Portugal, foi condecorada pelo Presidente da República com a Ordem do Infante D. Henrique (2005) e recebeu o Prémio Pessoa (2013). Em 2019, foi distinguida com o Prémio Dona Antónia – Consagração de Carreira e, em 2024, foi agraciada com a Medalha de Mérito Científico pela FCT.

Além do seu trabalho na ciência, Maria M. Mota é uma voz ativa na defesa dos direitos das mulheres e da equidade de oportunidades na educação. Atualmente, colabora com uma coluna de opinião mensal no jornal Expresso, onde partilha a sua visão para uma sociedade centrada no conhecimento.

Rita Blanco

Nascida a 11 de janeiro de 1963, em Lisboa, Rita Blanco é uma atriz portuguesa de teatro, televisão e cinema, reconhecida pela sua versatilidade e intensidade nas interpretações. Iniciou o percurso na representação aos 18 anos, tendo frequentado a Escola Superior de Teatro e Cinema e o Conservatório Nacional, onde completou a sua formação.

Estreou-se no cinema em 1982 com os filmes Le Cercle des Passions, de Claude D’Anna, e Ninguém Duas Vezes, de Jorge Silva Melo. Dois anos depois, trabalhou com Manoel de Oliveira no filme Le Soulier de Satin. Em 1987, começou uma longa colaboração com o realizador João Canijo, com quem tem desenvolvido múltiplos projetos no cinema, teatro e televisão. A sua interpretação em Três Menos Eu valeu-lhe a seleção para o Festival Les Stars de Demain, em Genebra. Trabalhou ainda com outros realizadores portugueses de renome, como João César Monteiro, João Botelho e João Mário Grilo.

A estreia no teatro aconteceu em 1983 com a peça Mariana Espera Casamento, encenada por Luís Miguel Cintra. Tornou-se conhecida do grande público sobretudo pela sua presença televisiva, iniciada em 1990 com a série cómica Casino Royale, de Herman José. Participou em vários programas humorísticos, como Crime na Pensão Estrelinha e Hermanias Especial, e foi comentadora no programa A Noite da Má Língua. O reconhecimento pelo público e crítica no pequeno ecrã consolidou-se em 1998 com a sua participação na série Médico de Família, da SIC.

No cinema, Rita Blanco conta já com 59 filmes no currículo. Entre os seus objetivos futuros, Rita deseja estrear-se na realização, fazer teatro para crianças e ter um terreno para resgatar mais animais, refletindo um compromisso pessoal com causas que lhe são queridas.

Sibila Marques

ISCTE-IUL

Sibila Marques é professora auxiliar no ISCTE-IUL e membro integrado do Centro de Investigação e de Intervenção Social (CIS-IUL). É diretora do Mestrado em Psicologia Social da Saúde no ISCTE.

Tem desenvolvido os seus trabalhos principalmente em duas áreas: Psicologia do Ambiente e Psicologia do Envelhecimento. Tem várias publicações com impacto em jornais científicos e tem colaborado em vários projetos nacionais e internacionais no domínio da psicologia ambiental e do envelhecimento.

É autora do ensaio «Discriminação da Terceira Idade», publicado pela Fundação Francisco Manuel dos Santos. Mais recentemente, colaborou como especialista no Relatório Global contra o idadismo com a Organização Mundial da Saúde.