Università degli Studi di Brescia
Italy
Università degli Studi di Brescia was established in 1982 and it was originally composed of three Faculties: Medicine and Surgery, Engineering and Economics. In 1999 the Faculty of Law was created, thus contributing to enrich the educational offer of the University.
At the time of writing, Università degli Studi di Brescia hosts around 170 active financed research projects, both national projects and European and extra European projects. Among the European ones, 17 projects are within the 7th Framework Programme (YOUTHUNEMPLOYMENT, WIROX, ORAMA, ROUTES, KULTURISK, APPRAISAL, COPERNICO, IREBID, IDIHOM, MEDIA, BIOSTAT-CHF, MODERN, T-REX, SYRTO, ISTRESS, MSP, SNOOPY) and for four of these, Università degli Studi di Brescia is coordinator (WIROX, APPRAISAL, SYRTO, SNOOPY).
Other project proposals within the European programs are currently under negotiation.
Moreover, Università degli Studi di Brescia counts almost 90 official conventions with European and non-European Universities (in all the five continents).
Key personnel involved in the project
Luigi Fontana – Researcher
TBA – Research Assistant
Main tasks attributed to them in the project
Professor Fontana and the research assistant will take part in task 1 of the Biogerontology research area by outlining the most important achievements in the field and by assessing their suitability for translation.
Short profile of all personnel and previous relevant experience
Luigi Fontana has been involved in EU, NIH and Italian funded research for 10 years. Fontana interests lie in nutrition, aging and longevity in humans. His research group has focused primarily on the potential role of diet and exercise in retarding the aging process.
Fontana has extensive experience with the long-term metabolic and molecular effects of calorie restriction in humans. His group is also investigating the long-term effects of protein restriction, phytochemical-rich plant-based diets and endurance exercise on outcomes such as cardiovascular risk factors and function, inflammation, glucose tolerance, bone metabolism, neuroendocrine and immune function, and cancer. Fontana has also excellent insight in the endocrine role of abdominal fat storage as a mediator of insulin resistance and accelerated aging.