Eric Verdin

At a glance

• Eric Verdin is a Belgian physician and geroscientist. He trained in medicine at the University of Liège and has been president and CEO of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging in California since 2016.
• Before that he worked at the Gladstone Institutes (UCSF), researching HIV and sirtuins, enzymes that regulate metabolism.
• His research focuses on metabolism, diet and the molecules that influence ageing, including NAD+ and ketone bodies.
• His team showed that the ketone body beta-hydroxybutyrate also acts as a signalling molecule, and that a cyclic ketogenic diet improved memory in ageing mice (Cell Metabolism, 2017).
• He has published more than 200 papers, holds a number of patents and regularly appears in podcasts and media on healthy ageing.
• For longevity, he is an important voice because he links basic research to a sober lifestyle message.
• Takeaway: treat diet, exercise and sleep as the foundation; molecules such as NAD+ are interesting research, not a proven shortcut.