Dr. João Pedro de Magalhães

João Pedro de Magalhães, Ph.D. leads the Integrative Genomics of Aging Group at the Institute of Integrative Biology, University of Liverpool, UK.
 
Pedro graduated in Microbiology from Escola Superior de Biotecnologia in his hometown of Porto, Portugal, in 1999. His first experience in a research environment was as an intern (1998–1999) in the UnIGENe research group at the Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology in Porto, where he worked on Machado-Joseph disease, a neurological disorder, under the supervision of Jorge Sequeiros.
 
As a doctoral fellow, he pursued his dream of unravelling the mechanisms of aging by joining the Aging and Stress Group at the University of Namur in Namur, Belgium. With Olivier Toussaint as his advisor, his work from 1999 to 2004 spanned molecular mechanisms of cellular senescence and response to oxidative stress, evolutionary models of aging, and analyses of gene networks.
 
Fascinated by the genome and by the opportunities its sequencing opened, Pedro then did a postdoc from 2004 to 2008 with genomics pioneer George Church at Harvard Medical School in Boston, USA. He developed high-throughput approaches for studying aging, including computational tools and databases, statistical models of mortality, and comparative genomics methods for investigating the evolution of longevity.
 
In 2008, he joined the School of Biological Sciences (now called Institute of Integrative Biology) at the University of Liverpool as a Lecturer to develop his own group on genomic approaches to aging.
 
Pedro is an atheist with a unique philosophy of life merging humanism, utilitarianism, and objectivism. The following philosophical essays present his ideas in more detail: An Alien’s Report on the Human Species, The Sky Is the Limit, What Am I?, The Selfish Genius, andThe One-Man Rule.
 
Music is the light in his soul. He started to play guitar in high school and in 1999 made a symphonic metal demo album entitled The Legend of Hrothgar. All his songs are available for download in MP3 format.
 
Pedro is also an amateur stand-up comedian. His hobbies include science fiction, football, andcomputers.
 
Watch Cryonics: Fantasy or a Bridge to the Future? Read João Pedro de Magalhães’ Path to Ending Aging and The Evolutionary Theory of Aging. Visit his Facebook page. Read his LinkedIn profile.