The CCF team’s expertise in western and eastern modalities, as well as focus on nutrition, public health, psychology, intestinal microbiology and immunology make for a diverse and multifaceted approach to health care.
President, Founder
Professor Valter Longo: A Global Leader in Longevity Research
Internationally recognized as a leading expert in the field of longevity and age-related diseases, Professor Valter Longo is a Professor of Biogerontology and the Director of the Longevity Institute at the University of Southern California – Leonard Davis School of Gerontology in Los Angeles. This premier research center focuses on aging and age-related diseases, where Professor Longo conducts both basic and clinical research on nutrition, genetics, and aging.
In addition, he collaborates with universities in Calabria, Sardinia, and Liguria, in Italy, to study the diets of centenarians and conducts clinical research on the effects of nutrition on age-related diseases across multiple institutions in Italy, Europe, and the United States.
The use of nutrition to promote long and healthy lives is central to Professor Longo’s work. He is internationally renowned for discovering some of the most important longevity genes and for developing the “fasting-mimicking diet” and the “Longevity Diet,” the latter of which inspired his international bestselling book. This book, translated into 25 languages and sold in 39 countries, has brought his research to a global audience. In 2018, Time magazine named him one of the 50 most influential people in healthcare for his research on the fasting-mimicking diet and the Longevity Diet.
A Lifelong Fascination with Longevity
The search for the secrets of longevity has fascinated Prof Longo since childhood, which was marked by the premature death of his maternal grandfather, leading him to explore aging and centenarian lifestyles across the globe. His travels took him from Los Angeles to the Andes in southern Ecuador, Okinawa in Japan, Russia, the Netherlands, southern Germany, and ultimately back to his ancestral roots in Molochio, Calabria, a Southern Italian village known for its high concentration of centenarians.
Raised in Italy between Liguria and Calabria, regions celebrated for their delicious and healthy cuisines, Professor Longo moved to the United States at the age of 16 with dreams of becoming a famous rock guitarist. While engaging with world-class musicians, he encountered one of the least healthy diets, sparking his interest in nutrition. His formative years in music, particularly improvisation and composition, fostered a mindset open to innovation, which later influenced his scientific approach. Even his experience in the U.S. Army, where he endured rigorous training while funding his university studies, instilled discipline that he later applied to physical fitness and nutrition.
Ultimately, these experiences converged into his true calling: studying biochemistry and the science of longevity.
Academic Achievements and Groundbreaking Discoveries
After earning a degree in Biochemistry from the University of North Texas, Professor Longo completed his Ph.D. at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), where he studied under Roy Walford, M.D., a pioneer in calorie restriction and nutrition research. He later continued postdoctoral studies in neurobiology of aging and neurodegenerative diseases in the lab of Professor Caleb Finch at USC, where he currently serves as Professor of Gerontology and Biological Sciences and Director of the Longevity Institute.
Professor Longo’s research has led to groundbreaking discoveries, including extending the lifespan of a simple organism tenfold through fasting combined with genetic mutations. His team identified a human equivalent mutation associated with protection against cancer, diabetes, cognitive decline, and cardiovascular damage.
His laboratory later developed the fasting-mimicking diet and demonstrated its effects on activating stem cells, multisystem regeneration, and biological reprogramming. These findings have led to over 30 clinical trials on longevity and age-related diseases, showing the potential of the fasting-mimicking diet to reduce biological age, reverse diabetes, and improve survival in cancer patients.
Awards and Recognition
Throughout his career, Professor Longo has received numerous prestigious awards, including:
• The Nathan Shock Lecture Award from the National Institute on Aging (2010)
• The Vincent Cristofalo “Rising Star” Award for Aging Research from the American Federation for Aging Research (2013)
• Merz Professorship, Boehaave Professorship, Jubilee Professorship (2016)
• The Glenn Award for Aging Research (2016)
• Highly Cited Researcher Award (2021, 2022, 2023, 2024), with an H-index of 73, placing him among the top 1:1000 most-cited scientists globally.
Philanthropy and the Mission to Improve Lives
Professor Longo is the founder of the non-profit Create Cures Foundation in the U.S. and the Valter Longo Foundation in Italy. These organizations offer educational programs on healthy nutrition and lifestyle for children, schools, and adults of all ages. They also provide nutritional and integrative support for optimizing health and as complementary therapies for non-communicable diseases, including cancer, diabetes, obesity, cardiovascular, autoimmune, and neurodegenerative conditions.
All profits from his books are donated to the Foundations to fund nutritional programs for economically disadvantaged patients with non-communicable diseases, as well as educational initiatives for schools, families, older adults, and underserved communities.
European Longevity Institute
Professor Longo also founded the European Longevity Institute to create a center dedicated to education, clinical care, and research on longevity and age-related diseases. The Institute shares the Foundation’s mission of helping everyone live longer and healthier lives.
Chief Operating Officer
Marco Paonessa serves as the Chief Operating Officer at Create Cures Foundation, where he oversees day-to-day operations and drives strategic initiatives in close collaboration with the CEO.
Recruited for his ability to turn vision into execution, Marco is recognized for his strategic mindset, operational excellence, and people-first leadership.
With a background spanning project management, startups, and technology, he blends technical expertise with business strategy to deliver scalable, customer-centric solutions, including the integration of AI to streamline processes and enhance growth.
Originally from Italy and now based in Los Angeles, Marco brings a global perspective and fosters a culture of inclusivity, adaptability, and continuous improvement. His leadership was instrumental in building Create Cures Foundation into a premier specialty clinic from the ground up, and he continues to shape the organization’s long-term growth with empathy and innovation.
Scientific Consultant
Dr. Sebastian Brandhorst’s scientific training is based on a background in cell biology, molecular biology, medicine, and biochemistry, all of which are highly relevant for his focus on biogerontology research to identify the mechanisms underlying cellular protection, as well as health- and lifespan-regulation, and their translation into clinical applications. His studies are focused on the application of short-term starvation, low calorie and/or low protein diets, so-called fasting-mimicking diets, on health and lifespan in pre-clinical and their translation into clinical studies. Dr. Brandhorst is a Professor at the Davies School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, California.
Nutritional Biologist
Romina Cervigni, Nutritional Biologist of the Valter Longo Foundation and Create Cures Foundation Clinic, obtained a Ph.D. from Open University in the United Kingdom where she focused her attention on the field of Oncology and a second level Masters in Nutrition and Dietetics. She has collaborated as a postdoctoral researcher with the National Research Committee (CNR) in Naples, Italy and the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University in Milan, Italy.
Educational Collaborator Master Programs
Dr. Cristina Villa obtained a PhD from the University of California Los Angeles focusing her attention on traumatic events such as the Holocaust, the importance of memory and respect for human rights, a Masters at the University of Ca ‘Foscari concerning yoga and meditation, a Masters in Italian studies at the University of Wisconsin-Madison and a Masters in English and German studies at the University of Bergamo. Her research focuses on the history of food in Italy and in the Mediterranean area and has taught food history courses for the University of Southern California, University of California UCEAP, University of Wisconsin-Madison, Cornell University and Vanderbilt University in Florence.
