Claudio Franceschi is Professor Emeritus at the University of Bologna and Professor at Lobachevsky State University, Nizhny Novgorod. He obtained his MD in Pathology and Immunology from the University of Bologna (1967) and devoted his career to understanding the biology of aging and longevity. He introduced the concept of ‘inflammaging’ in 2000, describing the chronic low-grade inflammation underlying aging and most age-related diseases. As a pioneer in centenarian research, he has published more than 600 peer-reviewed articles on genomics, epigenomics, gut microbiota, and longevity genetics. He has received the Hayflick Lecturer Award (2012) and honorary professorships from the Universities of Nottingham and Bordeaux.