Prof. Dr. Luigi Fontana, MD (Hons), PhD, FRACP

Luigi Fontana is an internationally recognized physician scientist and one of the world’s leaders in the field of nutrition and healthy longevity in humans. His pioneering studies on the effects of dietary restriction in humans have opened a new area of nutrition-related research that holds tremendous promise for the prevention of age-related chronic diseases and for the understanding of the biology of human aging.

WikiBio: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Luigi_Fontana_(medical_researcher)

Google scholar: https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=q7oQtGIAAAAJ&hl=en

Youtube channel: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLxNVoATTAqP8-vw9OKiNQ0YkWL_fX9hUZ

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

ACADEMIC POSITIONS & EDUCATION:

Professor Fontana is the Leonard P. Ullmann Chair of Translational Metabolic Health at the Charles Perkins Centre, where he directs the Healthy Longevity Research and Clinical Program. He is also a Professor of Medicine and Nutrition in the Faculty of Medicine and Health at the University of Sydney and a Clinical Academic in the Department of Endocrinology at the Royal Prince Alfred Hospital. Fontana is an Adjunct Professor of Medicine at Washington University School of Medicine in St.Louis, USA.

Professor Fontana was a Full Professor of Medicine and Nutritional Sciences at Washington University in St.Louis (USA) and Brescia (Italy) Schools of Medicine, and co-director of the Longevity Research Program at Washington University. Fontana graduated with highest honors from the Verona University Medical School (1994), where he completed his internship and residency in Internal Medicine (1999). He also received a Ph.D. in Metabolism and Clinical Pharmacology from the University of Padua Medical School (2003).

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

PUBLICATIONS:

Professor Fontana has published over 140 manuscripts in prestigious journals including Science, Nature, Cell, New England Journal of Medicine, JAMA, BMJ, Cell Metabolism, Lancet Diabetes Endocrinol, Circulation, Journal American College of Cardiology, Diabetes, Aging Cell and PNAS. He has been invited to present his work at international conferences and top medical schools and research institutes around the world, including Harvard University, Cambridge University, Yale University, Universitè Paris “Pierre et Marie Curie”, Max Plank Institute of Aging, Baylor College of Medicine, Buck Institute for Research on Aging, Spanish National Cancer Research Centre, National University of Singapore among others.

AWARDS:

Dr. Fontana’s is the recipient of three prestigious awards: the 2009 American Federation Aging Research (AFAR) Breakthroughs in Gerontology Award and the 2011 Glenn Award for Research in Biological Mechanisms of Aging and the 2016 Vincent Cristofalo Award of the American Federation Aging Research. He was a Scientific Member of the Board of Directors of the American Aging Association.

___________________________________________________________________________________________________

MAJOR MEDIA ATTENTION:

- Quoted in The New York Times, “Food for Holiday Thought: Eat Less, Live to 140?” by David Hochman, Nov 23, 2003

- Profiled on a NHK special documentary "Challenge the aging: You can live longer", 2004

- Quoted in The Washington Post, “Seeking the Low-Calorie Fountain of Youth” by Rob Stein, May 4 2004.

- Quoted in Science “Lean, Hungry, and Healthy” by Constance Holden, Apr 23 2004 (Science 2004;304:514)

- Quoted in New Scientist “Eat less and keep disease at bay” by Anil Ananthaswamy, Apr 24, 2004

- Featured in the Korean documentary "Secrets of Living, Aging, Illness and Death " by Mia Lee, 2005

- Quoted in The Times of London, “Eat less — and live to 130” by David Mattin, Oct 3, 2005

- Profiled in an Italian TV documentary “Calorie restriction and aging” by Piero Angela (“SuperQuark” series), 2005

- Quoted in The Wall Street Journal, “Reducing Your Daily Calories by 40%: The Science Behind 'Starvation' Diets”, by Tara Parker-Pope, Jan 31 2006.

- Quoted in The Washington Post, “High Protein Diets May Boost Cancer Risk” by Steven Reinberg, Dec 7, 2006

- Featured in the BBC4 documentary “Live longer: Caloric restrictions and ageing of the heart”, 2007

- Quoted in Newsweek, “Never say die”, by Anne Underwood, Dec 12 2008.

- Quoted in The New York Times Magazine “The Calorie-Restriction Experiment” by JON GERTNER, Oct 7 2009.

- Quoted in the Los Angeles Time, “Permanent diet may equal longer life” by Karen Kaplan, July 9, 2009

- Quoted in the Time Magazine, “Health Checkup: How to Live 100 Years - Eat Less, Live Longer?”, by Bryan Walsh, 2010.

- Quoted in New Scientist “Eat less, live longer?” by Laura Cassiday, Jun 3, 2010

- Time Magazine - "9 Healthy Snacks That Prevent Overeating", by Markham Heid, Aug 11, 2016.

- Featured in the BBC2 Horizon documentary Eat, Fast & Live Longer by Michael J. Mosley, 2012

- Featured in the ABC ‘Catalyst’ documentary "Staying Younger For Longer" by Jayne Parker, 2019

_____________________________________________________________________________________________________

INTERESTS:

Prof. Fontana philosophical interests lie at the intersection of metaphysics, philosophy of mind and environmental ethics. He is interested in the cultivation of the self as a moral and epistemological agent. He is also interested in the roles of intuition, emotions and consciousness in the process of reasoning and self development.

As a leading physician scientist, his interests lie in preventive medicine and in the mechanisms mediating healthy longevity in humans. His research is focused primarily on the role of diet, physical exercise and mind training in retarding the aging process and in preventing age-associated chronic disease.

As a clinician, he is interested in empowering people to maximise their health and wellbeing. He firmly believe that it is urgent that as a society, people begin to take a prevention-based approach to health, not a disease-based one. People can make choices that will set themselves up for long, healthy and happy lives, while contributing to the protection of the environment. Those already suffering from chronic conditions, such as obesity, hypertension, diabetes, heart disease, cancer, autoimmune and allergic disorders, and emotional and psychological distress, can also make positive changes that will have a beneficial influence on their lives now.

Aside from medicine, science and philosophy, Fontana enjoy artistic photography, drawing, painting, writing poetry and listening to jazz and classical music. He loves practicing active contemplation of the self, Hatha yoga, hiking, mountain biking and swimming. Another of his hobbies is pruning his olive trees.