Valter Longo

Valter D. Longo (born October 9, 1967) is an Italian-American biogerontologist and cell biologist known for his studies on the role of starvation and nutrient response genes on cellular protection aging and diseases and for proposing that longevity is regulated by similar genes and mechanisms in many eukaryotes. He is currently a professor at the USC Davis School of Gerontology with a joint appointment in the department of Biological Sciences as well as serving as the director of the USC Longevity Institute.

Originally from Genoa, Italy, Valter Longo attended the University of North Texas majoring in Biochemistry.

In 1992 he joined the laboratory of "calorie restriction" pioneer Roy Walford at UCLA where he studied calorie restriction and aging of the immune system. He completed his PhD work in Biochemistry studying antioxidant enzymes and anti-aging genes under Joan Valentine at UCLA in 1997 and his postdoctoral training in the neurobiology of Alzheimer's Disease under Caleb Finch at the University of Southern California. Since 1997 he has been a faculty member at the USC Davis School of Gerontology and Ethel Percy Andrus Gerontology Center.

Longo is a member of the formation of USC's Biology of Aging program as well as the director of the USC Longevity Institute, also launched the USC Davis School of Gerontology's first study-abroad program, a summer class in the nutrition and genetics of aging in Italy.

In 2011, he was profiled on Through the Wormhole with Morgan Freeman for his longevity-related research.

Longo is inventor of the "Fast Mimicking Diet", a type of intermittent fasting diet.

• Vincent Cristofalo Rising Star Award in Aging Research, American Aging Association, 2013
• PO1 Program Project in the Biology of Aging of Aging and Cancer, 2011
• Nathan Shock Lecture Award, National Institute on Aging, NIH, 2010
• Alzheimer's Association Research Award, 2002
• National Institute on Aging Career Development Award in Neuroscience, 2001

Valter Longo is a founder of a L-Nutra Inc., a company that markets food supplements. However he has stated that he receives no profit from this company , and his goal is to be able to distribute these products at as low cost as possible to patients.

He has declared to Italian TV to have donated his quota to charity organizations (Italia 1 channel, Le Iene, October 9, 2016).

• "Fasting vs dietary restriction in cellular protection and cancer treatment: from model organisms to patients"
• "Fasting Cycles Retard Growth of Tumors and Sensitize a Range of Cancer Cell Types to Chemotherapy"
• "Fasting and cancer treatment in humans: A case series report"
• "Prolonged Fasting Reduces IGF-1/PKA to Promote Hematopoietic-Stem-Cell-Based Regeneration and Reverse Immunosuppression"
• "Low Protein Intake Is Associated with a Major Reduction in IGF-1, Cancer, and Overall Mortality in the 65 and Younger but Not Older Population"