Marco Demaria is currently an Associate Professor in Cellular Ageing at the Medical Faculty of the
University of Groningen and the Group Leader of the laboratory of Cellular Senescence and
Age-related Pathologies of the European Research Institute for the Biology of ageing (ERIBA). He
obtained his PhD at the University of Torino, Italy, under the supervision of prof. Valeria Poli. In
2010, he joined the laboratory of prof. Judith Campisi as a postdoctoral fellow at the Buck
Institute for Research on Aging in Novato, USA. In 2015, Dr. Demaria returned to Europe and joined
the University of Groningen and the European Research Institute for the Biology of Ageing (ERIBA)
with a tenure-track position. His work is supported by several agencies and companies. Dr. Demaria
serves as Editor in Chief for npj Aging, and as reviewer for several journals and funding agencies.
In 2018 he co-founded a start-up company, Cleara Biotech. Since 2022 he is the President of the
International Cell Senescence Association (ICSA).
Dr. Demaria is focused towards understanding the molecular basis of aging and age-related disorders,
and identifying new molecular and cellular targets to improve health and longevity. At the core of
his research is cellular senescence, a potent tumor suppressive mechanism characterized by a strong
secretory and pro-inflammatory phenotype. During his postdoctoral studies, he has characterized a
new transgenic mouse model for the study of senescence in vivo, and demonstrated that senescent
cells accumulate and persist during aging and under genotoxic stress, where they contribute to
disease. However, he has also demonstrated that sub-populations of senescent cells cover positive
roles during tissue repair.
Now, the goal of the Demaria laboratory is to define the conditions and phenotypes that determine
whether a senescent cell covers beneficial or detrimental functions. The laboratory is developing
the following projects, with the support of many collaborators and funding schemes:
- Molecular characterization of the senescence heterogeneity.
- Role of senescent cells during disease.
- Clearance of senescent cells.
- Lifestyle effects on induction of cellular senescence.
- Pro-senescence therapies to improve tissue repair.
In the long-term, the laboratory aims at developing novel pharmaceutical and nutraceutical interventions
to reduce the detriment or improve the benefit of different senescent cells with the goal to improve
health and longevity.
