Understanding Aging Before Trying to Fix It
The Second World Congress on Targeting Longevity is a joint initiative of the World Mitochondria Society (WMS) and the International Society of Microbiota (ISM) will be held on 8-9 April, 2026 in Berlin. Building on previous WMS and ISM meetings, this congress invites participants to rethink longevity beyond isolated biological mechanisms.
Aging Is Not a Defect
Longevity is often approached as a problem to solve, a pathway to correct, a marker to optimize, or a target to reach. Yet aging does not behave like a defect that can simply be fixed. Aging is a dynamic and systemic process shaped by continuous interactions between mitochondria, microbiota, metabolism, immunity, inflammation, and stress adaptation over time. Understanding these interactions is essential if we want to understand longevity itself.
Call for Abstracts & Projects
Submit your abstract now to showcase innovative strategies in aging and contribute to the Revolution in Longevity Medicine. Don't miss the chance to share your recent work with international experts. Join us in shaping the future of longevity research.
Targeting Longevity Speakers
Mitochondrial Dysfunction as the Mother of all Hallmarks of Aging
Volkmar Weissig, Midwestern University, College of Pharmacy Glendale, USA
Aging Is a Communication Failure: Decoding the Dialogue Between Mitochondria and Microbiota – A Key to Longevity
Marvin Edeas, Institut Cochin, Université de Paris, France - Founder of the World Mitochondria Society (WMS) and Organizer of Targeting Longevity
Mitochondria as central regulators of inflammation in senescence and aging
João F. Passos, Mayo Clinic, USA
Complex I and the Clock of Life: Developmental Insights and Therapeutic Perspectives
Alberto Sanz Montero, University of Glasgow, United Kingdom
Can Aging Be Vaccinated? Rethinking Senescence Through Immunity
Tohru Minamino, Juntendo University Graduate School of Medicine, Tokyo
When Brain Aging Begins: Mitochondria, Glia, and the Rise of Senescence
Nancy M. Bonini, University of Pennsylvania, USA
Kyotango Longevity Lessons: Mechanisms Linking Microbiota, Brain, and Healthy Aging Pathways
Yuji Naito, Kyoto Prefectural University of Medicine, Japan
How Sharing Metabolites Between Cells Can Extend Lifespan
Clara Correia-Melo, Fritz Lipmann Institute (FLI), Germany
The Architects of Longevity: The Invisible Thread Linking Mitochondria, Microbiota, and Redox Balance
Laurent Chatre, CNRS Researcher, University of Caen-Normandie, France
Healing, Senescence, and Longevity: Spatiotemporal Controls in Tissue Repair
Mikołaj Ogrodnik, Ludwig Boltzmann Research Group, Austria
Autophagy as an Anti-Ageing Programme
Viktor Korolchuk, Newcastle University, United Kingdom
From Stem Cells to Skin Aging: Mitochondrial Metabolism in Regeneration and Longevity
William Lowry, University of California, USA
Another Way to Look at Longevity: What Animal Genomes and Gut Microbes Reveal
Yasukazu Nakamura, National Institute of Genetics (NIG), Japan
From Genomes to Longevity Strategies: A Systems Biology Perspective
João Pedro de Magalhães, University of Birmingham, United Kingdom
Microbiota to Host Aging: The Redox Machinery as a System Integrator
Soheil Saeedi, University of Zurich, Switzerland
