Antonio Currais, Ph.D

Antonio Currais obtained his BSc degree in Microbiology and Genetics from the University of Lisbon and completed his PhD in Neuroscience at King's College London. He is currently a Staff Scientist at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies. 

His lab is focused on identifying the pathological contributions of aging to human diseases and, based on this knowledge, developing novel therapeutics derived from plants. Integrative omic technologies are combined with cell culture and animal models to understand disease processes and mechanisms of drug action. 

His efforts contributed to the pre-clinical studies that led to the identification of the molecular target and anti-aging effects of the drug candidates J147 and CMS121. Both the compounds are in phase I clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease and are some of the first drug candidates for the disease that were developed to target the aging process in the brain.

The discovery of therapeutics from plants is carried out through international collaborations that are established within the scope of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals. The goal is to accelerate new treatments for human diseases through global partnerships.