Since 1989, Valter Longo has dedicated his research to understanding the factors that contribute to overall health and longevity. About 20 years ago, Longo returned to Italy where he grew up, seeking to better study the practices that have helped regions like Sardinia become home to some of the world’s longest-living people.

Longo is the director of the Longevity and Cancer Laboratory at the IFOM Institute of Molecular Oncology in Milan, Italy. He is also the director of the Longevity Institute of the Leonard Davis School of Gerontology at the University of Southern California-Los Angeles.