Guest Lecture: From Nutrient Restriction to Lifespan Extension: Is Autophagy the Missing Link?

When:
Monday, May 25 , 2026 | 17:30

Where:
AC Auditorium – Deree the American College of Greece – Gravias 6

Organized by:
Department of Natural Sciences, Deree – The American College of Greece

About the talk:

The quest of extending the life span is a multibillion dollar business that includes some solid science but also a lot of hype. One strategy that seems to be successful is related to nutrient restriction, either in the form of a general reduction in nutrients every day or by intermittent fasting, which most people know as the 5/2 diet. Although some of the benefits from such nutrient limitation are real, the mechanism by which they exert this beneficial effect is still under extensive investigation.

In this talk, data will be presented showing that nutrient restriction leads to lifespan extension in a variety of organisms, and it will be argued that part of the benefit is the activation of autophagy, a cellular pathway that generates nutrients during periods of starvation and “cleans” cells from harmful material that builds up over time.

About the speaker

Dr Nicholas Ktistakis is a Senior Group Leader at the Babraham Institute, partner organization of the University of Cambridge. In addition to his research work, he also teaches in the Biochemistry Programme of the University of Cambridge topics related to autophagy and membrane traffic. He is a Molecular Cell Biologist by training interested in autophagy and ageing.

Dr Ktistakis is the Chief Co-Editor (with Professor Dan Klionsky) of the Journal Autophagy and is a co-founder and member of the advisory board of AUTOMERA, a biotechnology company based in Singapore and funded by Singapore and the US to identify novel drugs that use autophagy to degrade harmful cellular material.

He maintains a strong connection with Greece: He has taken part in over 60 evaluation committees for Greek University undergraduate and post-graduate programmes, including the recent evaluation of private Universities in Greece. He is also a founding member of KOMVOS, an independent organization that aims to mobilize the dynamic Greek diaspora in order to highlight world Hellenism, and a member of the Board of Directors of ΠΡΩΠΑΙΔΕΙΑ, an independent organization that aims to improve the educational system in Greece and to connect it with the healthy economy.