Aging is one of the leading risk factors for chronic diseases but, to date, very few interventions have proven truly effective in slowing down this process yet. Additionally, in recent years, there has been growing awareness that early-life exposures, including nutrition, hormonal signals, stress, and bioactive molecules, can leave long-lasting marks on the body, shaping disease risk and aging trajectories.

Our approach flips this narrative: instead of focusing on harmful exposures, we aim to identify preventive strategies that could improve longevity by acting in early life, exploring whether interventions limited to the period from birth to puberty can promote healthy aging and extend lifespan.

Specifically, we use pharmacological interventions targeting sexual maturation, glucose metabolism, vitamin D pathways, and angiogenesis, to evaluate their long-term effects on aging.  This approach also offers a powerful and efficient model for uncovering mechanisms of aging and testing longevity-promoting interventions.

People:

Ricardo Francisco Marques de Oliveira

Davide Lorenzo Drago