Impact
Vilhelm Bohr is a physician-scientist who studies how DNA repair, mitochondrial biology and energy metabolism interact in aging and age-associated neurodegeneration, including Alzheimer's disease. He is an affiliate professor at the University of Copenhagen's Department of Cellular and Molecular Medicine, part of its Molecular Aging Program, and his 2026 papers also list the Section on DNA Repair at the US National Institute on Aging. His group, with others, has identified NAD+ as a cofactor linking nuclear DNA damage to mitochondrial dysfunction and neurodegeneration, and has reported that NAD+ precursors and compounds that enhance mitophagy (autophagic removal of damaged mitochondria) improve outcomes in animal models, including a mouse model of Alzheimer's disease. Other projects address tau pathology, the mitochondrial role of the DNA repair enzyme aprataxin, and the RecQ helicase RECQL4, mutations in which cause premature-aging syndromes. Recent co-authored work includes a 2026 Nature study reporting that late-life semaglutide slows aging and extends lifespan in female mice, and a Nature Neuroscience paper describing mitochondrial plaques in Alzheimer's disease. For longevity research, his work is a reference point for the genome-maintenance and NAD+/mitophagy view of brain aging.
Metrics
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Research output
719 works · 60,282 citations · h-index 122 OpenAlex ↗
Selected publications
- Ageing as a risk factor for neurodegenerative disease ↗ 2019 · 3,423 citations
- Mitophagy inhibits amyloid-β and tau pathology and reverses cognitive deficits in models of Alzheimer’s disease ↗ 2019 · 1,774 citations
- Metformin improves healthspan and lifespan in mice ↗ 2013 · 1,480 citations
- DNA repair in an active gene: Removal of pyrimidine dimers from the DHFR gene of CHO cells is much more efficient than in the genome overall ↗ 1985 · 1,254 citations
- SIRT6 is a histone H3 lysine 9 deacetylase that modulates telomeric chromatin ↗ 2008 · 1,123 citations
Links
Research fields
Sources & review · profile last updated 2026-09-29
- https://icmm.ku.dk/english/research-groups/bohr-group/ 2026-09-23
- https://researchprofiles.ku.dk/en/persons/vilhelm-bohr/ 2026-09-23
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41586-026-10940-7 2026-09-23
- https://doi.org/10.1038/s41593-026-02390-1 2026-09-23
- https://www.niagenbioscience.com/pages/leadership 2026-09-24
- https://www.nia.nih.gov/about/naca/may-2022-directors-status-report 2026-09-24