Calogero Caruso
Professor Emeritus at the University of Palermo, Italy

Calogero Caruso, formerly Full Professor of General Pathology, is Professor Emeritus at the University of Palermo, Italy. He graduated from the School of Medicine, University of Palermo, in 1971 (magna cum laude). He was founder and editor-in-chief of the journal Immunity & Ageing (2004-2018), and has authored 388 publications (13,710 citations), mostly on ageing, age-related diseases and longevity, indexed on Scopus (H index of 61). He has recently edited the book “Centenarians. An example of positive biology.” for Springer Nature and, with Prof. Giuseppina Candore, the book “Human Aging. From Cellular Mechanisms to Therapeutic Strategies”. He was national coordinator of Italian Ministerial Project on Centenarians and Longevity (2017-2020). He was Coordinator of the PhD program in Molecular Medicine and Biotechnology (formerly Pathobiology) (1998-2018). The national and international recognition of his scientific achievements in the field of Biogerontology is documented by funded projects, by the number of citations of his papers, by invitations to national and international congresses and meetings, by his activity as a project reviewer and by organization of international conferences.

Giuseppina Candore, PhD
Associate Professor of General Pathology at the University of Palermo, Italy

Dr. Giuseppina Candore has authored 250 publications (9,003 citations), mostly on ageing, age-related diseases and longevity, indexed on Scopus (H index of 53). She has recently edited the book for Elsevier the book “Human Aging. From Cellular Mechanisms to Therapeutic Strategies”. She was Coordinator of post-graduate School in Clinical Biochemistry and Pathology” (June 2017 - March 2021). She is responsible for the local unit of the project “Improved Vaccination Strategies for Older Adults (ISOLDA)” funded by European Commission (2020-2024). The national and international recognition of her scientific achievements in the field of Biogerontology is documented by the number of citations of her papers and by organization of national and international conferences.

Ornella Piazza, M.D.
Associate Professor/ Head of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care Department- Cava de' Tirreni University Hospital/ Head of COVID Intensive Care

Consultant Anaesthesiologist and full time Associated Professor at the Department of Medicine, University of Salerno; serves as Professor of Anaesthesia and Intensive Care for medical students and medical residents, dentistry students, and student nurses at Salerno University School of Medicine. Member of the University of Salerno Animal Wellbeing Committee (Organismo Preposto al Benessere degli Animali (OPBA). Director of the Division of Intensive Care and Head of the Anaesthesia Department at the Cava de' Tirreni Hospital (part of the Salerno University Hospital, since 2015)

Annibale Alessandro Puca, M.D.
Professor in Clinical Pathology at the Department of Medicine of the University of Salerno

M.D. and board-certified in Neurology, Annibale A Puca started as a post-doc at TIGEM, Italy, in 1995 with Prof Brunella Franco. In 1998 he became a post-doc at Harvard Medical School in Prof Louis Kunkel lab. In 2001, in Cambridge, USA, he scientifically directed and co-founded Centagenetix Inc., an early stage start-up. In 2006 he started a group at MultiMedica where he focused its efforts on the discovery of genetic risk factors for exceptional longevity. Actually, he coordinate a group of scientists at the University of Salerno and at MultiMedica. At the academic level, Annibale A Puca became Instructor in Pediatrics at Harvard Medical School in 2001, in 2011 Associate Professor and in 2020 Full Professor in Clinical Pathology at the Department of Medicine of the University of Salerno. Prof Puca has a strong track record of publications about the genetic component of exceptional longevity and about the therapeutic use of a longevity associated variant (LAV) of BPIFB4.