Marios Kyriazis qualified as a medical doctor (MD) from the University of Rome, Italy, and after preclinical work in the USA he worked as a clinician in acute medicine in Cyprus, and the UK. He subsequently qualified as a Gerontologist with interest in the biology of aging and became a Chartered Member of the academic organisation ‘Royal Society of Biology’ in the UK. He has a post-graduate qualification in Geriatric Medicine from the Royal College of Physicians of London, and he has a Doctorate of Science (Medical Research).  

Other appointments include Member of the Board of Trustees at the Mediterranean Graduate School of Applied Social Cognition, affiliate researcher at the Evolution, Complexity and Cognition Group, University of Brussels, and a Ronin Research Scholar. 

He created the ELPIs Foundation for Indefinite Lifespans, a serious endeavour to study the elimination of age-related degeneration. The research is focused on transdisciplinary models and explores common principles between biology, complexity sciences, evolution, cybernetics, neurosciences, and techno-cultural elements. Areas of interest include robustness and degeneracy in organic systems, fragility and redundancy, repair processes (including self-repair), hormesis and environmental enrichment in aging, and immortalisation of somatic cells. 

One particular project is a concept developed by Dr Kyriazis, which is the ‘Law of Requisite Usefulness’. This states that agents which are useful in the evolution and adaptation of any system, are retained by that system. This concept can be applied in the specific case of humans who are actors within a highly technological and hyper-connected society, forming part of a Global Brain. The rationale is that these humans are valuable in the evolution of the global society and are thus more likely to live and function for longer (without any age-related degeneration). Biological mechanisms involved in this process could include microRNA and epigenetic modifications, phase transitions in metabolic and repair signalling, and processes involved in the redistribution of resources from germ line to somatic tissues (the indispensable soma hypothesis – www.indispensablesoma.info), as well as  other processes. 

Certain essential consequences of this worldview are: 

1. Physical pharmacological treatments and rejuvenation biotechnologies alone cannot be effective in the radical elimination of age-related degeneration in humans. A much more sophisticated approach is needed in this respect, an approach which uses concepts from both hard and soft sciences, as well as philosophical and cultural elements. 

2.  As our society becomes increasingly more technological and hyper-connected, we need to intentionally participate in this process and actively influence our own evolution. However, this does not depend on individual endeavour. It will only be effective if a large number of humans participate. 

3. Ethical and social transformation issues become more relevant: human fertility and childlessness, divisions within society, conflict resolution, architectural aspects (smart cities) and many others become pertinent notions in the discussion.  

In other words, this anti-aging methodology is much wider and more encompassing, than mere biomedical interventions. 

He organises the Cyprus Symposium on ‘Pathways to Indefinite Lifespans’, which aims to study these and other related concepts. Dr Kyriazis is a member of several editorial boards including Frontiers in Geriatric Medicine, the Elsevier Editorial System, Rejuvenation Research, The Biologist, World Journal of Translational Medicine, Peptides journal (The International Neuropeptide Society), and the European Journal of Clinical Nutrition. He is also a Board Member (Directors) of the European Society of Anti-Ageing Medicine (ESAAM), a Peer-review Board Member, Anti-Ageing Conference London, and several others. He has a portfolio of over 1200 articles, papers and lectures in the field of healthy aging. 

He is currently the Director of the National Gerontology Centre in Cyprus working in association with the Ministry of Health.