My full name is Giovanni Mario Pes (Gianni for short) and I was born in Sardinia in 1958.
I graduated in Medicine from the University of Sassari, Sardinia, and in 1993 I took my Ph.D. in Medical Statistics from the University of Pavia, Italy.

I first taught biochemistry and molecular biology at the University of Sassari. My research interests included biochemistry of lipids and lipoproteins and I have worked for many years on familial hypercholesterolemias. Then I moved into research on aging and age-related-diseases.

My interest in human longevity came from two sources, one professional and the other more personal. When in 1999 at a seminar held in France I showed for the first time the exceptionally high proportion of men among the oldest people in Sardinia. All researchers attending that meeting were sceptical and thought my data were wrong. I had a very hard time convincing them.

Over the past decade I personally interviewed and examined more than 200 centenarians in the mountain towns of Sardinia. Beside this, I was the grandson of one of the very rare Sardinian men who reached the record age 110. This stimulated my curiosity to know the secret of these exceptionally long lives.

The most valuable thing old people taught me is the importance of character, and above all, the tenacity in pursuing one’s own objectives. Many oldest Sardinian men in their youth had a strong will, and also a remarkable stubbornness. As this is indeed the national character of Sardinians it may well explain their success in surviving unfavourable conditions, and perhaps the ability to live longer.

On a personal note, I have been married for ten years to Sandra, a molecular biologist working with me.

My favourite recreation is listening to renaissance and baroque music, but I enjoy Sardinian folk music as well. In 2003 I began singing with the Choir of the University of Sassari.


Gianni