Frank Madeo

Impact

Frank Madeo is a molecular biologist at the University of Graz whose group investigates the molecular basis of healthy ageing, including polyamine synthesis and autophagy, using model organisms together with omics data from clinical studies such as fasting trials. He is best known for work on the natural polyamine spermidine: he was senior author of a 2009 Nature Cell Biology study showing that spermidine induces autophagy and extends lifespan in yeast, flies and worms, and of a 2016 Nature Medicine study reporting cardioprotection and lifespan extension in mice given dietary spermidine. His group also led a 2019 Cell Metabolism study reporting that alternate-day fasting improved physiological and molecular markers of ageing in healthy, non-obese humans. He is a frequent collaborator of Guido Kroemer, including on the review "Metabolic Control of Longevity" (Cell, 2016). His research area at the Institute of Molecular Biosciences also covers regulated cell death and the use of natural cell-death processes therapeutically.

Metrics

• h-index 123 · google scholar as of 2026-09-23 source ↗

Research output

353 works · 73,170 citations · h-index 111 OpenAlex ↗

Selected publications

• Molecular mechanisms of cell death: recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death 2018 ↗ 2018 · 6,770 citations
• Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (3rd edition) ↗ 2016 · 6,021 citations
• Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy ↗ 2012 · 4,063 citations
• Guidelines for the use and interpretation of assays for monitoring autophagy (4th edition) 1 ↗ 2021 · 2,742 citations
• Molecular definitions of cell death subroutines: recommendations of the Nomenclature Committee on Cell Death 2012 ↗ 2011 · 2,444 citations

Links

Research fields