Prof. Dr. Maria Cristina Polidori is an internationally renowned Italian researcher in the field of geriatrics and aging medicine. Born in Perugia in 1969, she earned her medical degree from the University of Perugia in 1993. She continued her training in the United States, working as a research fellow at the Department of Neurology of Massachusetts General Hospital at Harvard University and at the Whitaker Cardiovascular Institute of Boston University between 1994 and 1997. In 2000, she specialized in geriatrics at the University of Perugia. She then pursued research in Germany, obtaining her Habilitation in Physiological Chemistry in 2002 at Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf. Subsequently, she earned the venia legendi in Geriatrics at the University of Cologne. Currently, she is a Professor of Clinical Aging Research and the Director of the Clinical Aging Research Center at the Department II of Internal Medicine at the University of Cologne. Her research focuses on understanding the biomolecular mechanisms of aging and promoting healthy aging. She is the author of numerous scientific publications and the president-elect of the German Society for Gerontology and Geriatrics.