The Waltraut Bergmann Foundation supports the on-going longevity study in the region Cilento in Italy that is conducted by the University La Sapienza di Roma and the University of California, San Diego.

The Cilento is a region located in the province of Salerno in southern Italy and has one of the world’s highest concentrations of centenarians with an average life expectancy of 92 years for women (Italian average: 84) and 85 years for men (Italian average: 79) – similar to that in Okinawa (Japan), the most intensively investigated centenarian hotspot.

The study was designed to identify the underlying mechanisms behind a healthy and successful aging and how environmental factors and nutrition might aid in shaping a human longevity phenotype. The researchers will investigate environmental factors, nutrition, life style factors as well as genetic factors that may be the reason for healthy aging of the centenarians of the Cilento.

The Pilot Study CIAO (CIlento On Aging outcome study) of said longevity study has been already succesfully concluded.