Elena Volpi, MD, PhD, FGSA, is a physician-scientist with a long-standing interest in improving the health and function of older adults by translating basic research discoveries into clinical practice. She completed her medical training, board certification in endocrinology, and PhD in Applied Pathophysiology at the University of Perugia, Italy. She then moved to the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) at Galveston for her post-doctoral training in gerontology and metabolism, after which she became a faculty at the University of Southern California before returning to UTMB. While at UTMB she served as the director of the UTMB Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center for 13 years, and the director of the Sealy Center on Aging for 9 years. In 2023, she moved to UT Health San Antonio as the director of the Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies, the director of the San Antonio Claude D. Pepper Older Americans Independence Center, and a tenured professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Geriatrics, Gerontology and Palliative Medicine.
Dr. Volpi’s research focuses on discovering the mechanisms that lead to sarcopenia, the involuntary loss of muscle mass and function with aging, and identifying and testing innovative nutritional, exercise, and pharmacological treatments to improve muscle anabolism and functional recovery in older adults. She also leads clinical trials of interventions to improve recovery from hospitalization in geriatric patients, and has been leading clinical sites of large trials to test new interventions for dementia care, fall prevention, recovery from heart failure, and prevention of disability. She has participated in several national and international expert panels on nutrition in older adults, and in national and international review and advisory panels and editorial boards. She has received many honors and awards and is a fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and the European Society for Clinical Nutrition and Metabolism. Dr. Volpi is also a dedicated mentor for students, post-doctoral fellows, and junior faculty, and is a practicing clinician with a focus on diabetes in older adults. Her long-term goal is to create a comprehensive program that will improve the health and longevity of older adults by rapidly translating the basic science discoveries on aging into clinical practice and training the next generation of leaders in aging research and geriatrics.
