Associate Professor Simon Sedej

Simon Sedej earned his PhD in Biomedicine from the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He then conducted postdoctoral studies on calcium-triggered arrhythmias in Göttingen (Germany) and Graz (Austria). In 2015, he was promoted to an Associate Professor of Cardiac Physiology at the Medical University of Graz. He was the coordinator of the ERA-CVD-funded consortium MINOTAUR (Metabolic Therapy for Managing Diastolic Heart Failure). Sedej’s pioneering work on the cardioprotective mechanisms of spermidine in cardiac aging and longevity has guided his research on the application of caloric restriction mimetics in cardiovascular medicine. Simon made a significant contribution to the international fight against HFpEF by demonstrating that boosting NAD+ metabolism with nicotinamide might become a therapy for HFpEF. Recently, he has provided important molecular insights into how regulation of the cardiac IGF1 receptor signaling in the course of aging promotes health and longevity.