Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3, Theme 10.
Funded under the National Recovery and Resilience Plan (NRRP), Mission 4 Component 2 Investment 1.3, Theme 10.
Longevity & Fertility Algorithm
Coordinator
Future Food Mediterraneo S.r.l., Ecofood Fertility R&D S.r.l., Farzati S.p.A.
Analysis of existing data on food consumption, lifestyle and biochemical/genetic parameters in Italian population groups along the lifecycle: elaboration of available datasets providing information on eating and lifestyle habits, accessibility, drivers and barriers towards a healthy diet of defined groups (children, adolescents, adults, pregnant women, older subjects) in connection with Spoke 1.
Development of an ONFOODS cohort (including relevant target groups along the lifecycle) within the geographical area covered by the participant institutions with the aim to systematically assess nutritional status, eating behaviour, physical activity and lifestyle in target populations through the application of shared procedures and questionnaire able to add information lacking from the available datasets and to provide a setting for the validation of possible biomarker (see WP 5.4.) new intervention (in connection with Spoke 4) or educational strategies (in connection with spoke 7).
Definition of new protocols/surveys for the evaluation of the nutritional status across life stages, with attention to maternal-infant dyad in the "first 1000 days"; b) adult population (including physically active people and athletes); and free-living older adults.
Education and training at different levels for i) academic; ii) healthcare professionals; iii) industries; iv) general population to promote models for healthy nutritional schemes (in connection with Spoke 7).
Identify key sociodemographic and psychosocial factors associated with adherence to the Mediterranean diet in adults and free-living older adults throughout Italy, and also detecting individual-level and environmental barriers that may affect this age group engaging in consistent healthful dietary habits in connection with Spoke 1 (e.g., social isolation, low-income, neighbourhoods with high rates of poverty, poor nutrition literacy).
Promotion of the new Mediterranean diet-based models using multiple dissemination, communication strategies, targeting also "family nutrition" based on the Mediterranean diet suitable for all members of the family, among school children and adolescents (in connection with Spoke 7).
Recent scientific evidence highlights the strong interconnections between environmental quality, food systems, lifestyle factors, and human health, particularly in relation to fertility, ageing, and longevity. Studies adopting a One Health perspective have demonstrated that exposure to environmental contaminants can alter food quality and nutritional value, with downstream effects on reproductive health and long-term wellbeing.
In parallel, advances in environmental monitoring, molecular sensing, and IoT technologies have enabled high-resolution, real-time characterization of soil, food, and environmental matrices. However, existing research remains largely fragmented, often focusing on single exposure pathways or health outcomes, and rarely integrating environmental, dietary, biological, and psychosocial data within a unified analytical framework. Moreover, the translation of complex multidimensional data into predictive tools capable of supporting public health strategies and policy-making is still limited.
This gap underscores the need for integrated, data-driven models that combine environmental monitoring, food quality assessment, human biomonitoring, and advanced analytics to systematically evaluate their combined impact on fertility and longevity. The LAFA project builds upon this state of the art by addressing these limitations through a holistic and algorithm-based approach grounded in risk assessment and One Health principles.
The LAFA project will be implemented over a 16-month period through a coordinated work plan structured into interconnected work packages. The study will be conducted in two areas of Southern Italy characterized by contrasting environmental and dietary profiles: the Land of Fires, a highly polluted area, and the Cilento Geopark (Municipality of Pollica), a UNESCO-recognized Emblematic Community of the Mediterranean Diet.
Environmental monitoring of air, water, and soil, together with food quality assessment, will be carried out in parallel with human biomonitoring and lifestyle analysis. The study will involve two main age groups, namely young adults (18–25 years) and elderly individuals (>70 years), selected to investigate fertility, reproductive health, and healthy ageing trajectories.
Multidimensional data will be collected using advanced sensing technologies and standardized protocols, integrated within a centralized data infrastructure, and analysed through artificial intelligence and statistical modelling to develop a predictive algorithm for fertility and longevity. Continuous dissemination and stakeholder engagement activities will ensure effective knowledge transfer and policy relevance.
The LAFA project successfully achieved all its scientific and operational objectives, completing the full research cycle from environmental and agro-food monitoring to human biomonitoring, data integration, and predictive modelling. Comprehensive and interoperable datasets were generated for environmental matrices, clinical biomarkers, and multigenerational lifestyle factors, structured according to FAIR principles.
A key outcome of the project is the development and validation of the LAFA predictive platform, embedding the EPITOME algorithm, which integrates environmental, nutritional, and health indicators within a unified risk analysis framework. The EPITOME algorithm enables the identification, weighting, and aggregation of multiple exposure pathways and vulnerability factors, providing quantitative risk scores associated with fertility and longevity.
Overall, the project demonstrated the robustness and applicability of a One Health, data-driven approach, offering a scalable decision-support tool for public health assessment and territorial policy design.
