Evandro Fei Fang

The University of Oslo, Norway

The Evandro F. Fang group are investigating the molecular mechanisms of human aging, age-predisposed Alzheimer’s disease (AD), and artificial intelligence (AI)-based drug development for pathological aging and AD. After finishing his PhD training in Biochemistry with Chair Professor Tzi Bun Ng at The Chinese University of Hong Kong in 2012, Fang started a 5-year postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institute on Aging USA with Professors Vilhelm Bohr and Mark Mattson on DNA repair, mitophagy, and NAD+ in accelerated aging and neurodegeneration. In September 2017, he established his independent laboratory at The University of Oslo, Norway (https://evandrofanglab.com/). His laboratory is focusing on the molecular mechanisms of how cells clear their damaged and aged mitochondria, a process termed “mitophagy”, as well as the roles of mitophagy in AD. NAD+ is a fundamental molecule in life and health, and his group is investigating the molecular mechanisms of how NAD+ alleviates aging and age-predisposed neurodegeneration, especially AD. He is fascinated with and actively engaged in moving his laboratory findings to translational applications, such as being involved in 4 NAD+-based clinical trials, with the overarching goal to establish novel and safe biological approaches to promote longer and healthier human lives. He has published over 70 papers in international peer-reviewed journals including papers in Cell, Cell Metabolism, Nature Reviews MCB, and Nature Neuroscience. He has received several awards including The NIH Fellows Award for Research Excellence 2014, 2015, the Butler-Williams Scholar on Aging 2016 (USA), a FRIMEDBIO Young Research Talent 2017(Norway), a finalist of the 2017 ERC Starting grant, and the Norwegian Cancer Society Pink Ribbon 2020 Award. On 28th Feb 2020, he received the DKNVS 'scientific award to young scientist in the natural sciences for 2020’ (DKNVS’ vitenskapelige pris til yngre forskere innen naturvitenskap for 2020), by The Royal Norwegian Society of Sciences and Letters / Det Kongelige Norske Videnskabers Selskab (DKNVS) (https://evandrofanglab.com/2020/01/09/no-age-members-honor-dknvs-awards/).

Sofie Lautrup

The University of Oslo, Norway

Dr. Sofie Lautrup is investigating the molecular mechanisms of one of the most fundamental and fascinating topics in current biology: human aging. Her PhD training was performed at the Department of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Aarhus University, Denmark, where she focused on DNA repair mechanisms in neurons and how the activity of DNA repair relates to the cognitive decline observed during aging. During her PhD training, she spent eight months at the National Institute on Aging (NIA) USA with Dr. Vilhelm Bohr. At NIA, she continued her work on DNA repair, and examined the links between DNA repair, Alzheimer’s disease and NAD+ metabolism. In October 2018, she started her post-doctoral fellowship in the laboratory lead by Associate Professor Evandro Fei Fang at the University of Oslo, Norway. The Fang laboratory is focused on the molecular mechanisms of how cells clear their damaged and aged mitochondria, a process called “mitophagy”, as well as the roles of mitophagy in Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Lautrup is working on the molecular mechanisms of how NAD+ depletion contributes to defective mitophagy and stem cell exhaustion in the premature aging disease Werner syndrome. She works on several experimental systems including human iPSCs, C. elegans and Drosophila melanogaster. Dr. Lautrup has been productive with publications in PNAS, Nature Neuroscience Nature Communications, Cell Metabolism, etc. She was an awardee of the 2019 Keystone Symposia on Aging Scholarship.