Dr. Carina Kern
Carina Kern, PhD is a Geneticist and Biotechnology Executive known for her work on the biology of aging, the molecular mechanisms of chronic disease, and space biology. She is the Founder, Chief Executive Officer, and Chief Scientific Officer of LinkGevity, an AI-powered drug discovery company based at the Babraham Research Campus, affiliated with the University of Cambridge. She is also the President of the London Evolutionary Research Network (LERN), Co-Chair of the CleanTech Challenge, and Cofounder of Discover2Dream.
With a distinguished background in molecular biology, pharmacology, evolutionary biology, and genetics, Carina is renowned for her pioneering work on aging mechanisms and lifespan extension. Carina grew up in Tamil Nadu, India, before pursuing her academic career in the United Kingdom.
Carina cofounded LinkGevity in 2024 with her sister Serena Kern-Libera, creating a trailblazing biotechnology company at the intersection of artificial intelligence and longevity science. The company’s mission is rooted in the belief that aging can be addressed at its biological source.
At LinkGevity, Carina developed the proprietary Blueprint Theory of Aging, a systems-level framework that integrates insights from genetics, molecular biology, evolutionary theory, and medicine to explain how aging-related diseases arise from conserved biological constraints. The theory identifies molecular pathways that drive aging and age-related diseases, enabling the company’s AI platform to uncover and target the fundamental drivers of age-related deterioration.
Read The Architecture of Aging: How Ageing Drives Disease (Blueprint Theory) and Cities, communities and clinics can be testbeds for human exposome and aging research.
Carina’s research has led to the development of a first-in-class necrosis inhibitor targeting cellular degeneration, referred to as Anti-Necrotic™. This novel therapeutic targets the early stages of necrosis, an uncontrolled form of cell death implicated in tissue degeneration, chronic disease, and aging, aiming to preserve cellular integrity and enhance cellular resilience.
The Anti-Necrotic™ has been selected as one of only 12 global innovations for NASA’s Translational Research Institute for Space Health (TRISH) Space-Health program, recognizing its potential to mitigate accelerated aging in astronauts on long-duration space missions exposed to microgravity and cosmic radiation. LinkGevity plans to initiate clinical trials targeting kidney-related tissue degeneration and aging, with kidney disease being the ninth leading cause of death globally according to the World Health Organization.
Read Necrosis as a fundamental driver of loss of resilience and biological decline: what if we could intervene?, LinkGevity gears up for clinical trial of aging-focused ‘anti-necrotic’ drug, and Building a ‘Swiss Army Knife’ longevity drug.
LinkGevity’s Anti-Necrotic™ program has received significant institutional support, including a Horizon Europe grant from the European Union, a Smart Grant from Innovate UK, the UK government’s national innovation agency, and equity investment from the Francis Crick Institute through its celebrated KQ Labs Programme, for which only 10 startups are selected annually after a rigorous due diligence process.
LinkGevity was also selected for the inaugural NASA/Microsoft Space-H Accelerator program. LinkGevity has been profiled in the Financial Times as part of its five-part global series on companies shaping the future of longevity science. Read Innovate UK grant is boost for LinkGevity’s anti-ageing mission and Linkgevity targets aging as it joins startup accelerator KQ Labs.
Carina’s earlier research at University College London (UCL) focused on the model organism C. elegans and challenged several decades of orthodoxy regarding how single gene switch-off mechanisms could extend lifespan.
Working with Professor David Gems at the UCL Institute of Healthy Ageing, she coauthored landmark research demonstrating that C. elegans feed yolk to their young in a form of primitive lactation, a paper that was recognized by Faculty Opinions as being of special significance in its field on two occasions. This research received extensive media coverage in the United Kingdom, including coverage on Sky News, Evening Standard, The Times, and The Independent. Read C. elegans feed yolk to their young in a form of primitive lactation.
Carina has also studied the interface between metabolism and immunity, coauthoring work on mitochondrial reprogramming and innate immune training, demonstrating that resistance to infection can be modulated through metabolic cues across species, from C. elegans to humans.
She has been an outspoken critic of the concept of cellular senescence, which she argues has been outgrown by recent research progress. Read Is ‘cellular senescence’ a misnomer? and Mitochondrial Signature in Human Monocytes and Resistance to Infection in C. elegans During Fumarate-Induced Innate Immune Training.
Carina has authored 29 publications, accumulating over 320 citations across research areas including aging, genetics, evolutionary biology, neuroscience, immunology, and pharmacology. Her recent publication in Oncogene, Necrosis as a fundamental driver of loss of resilience and biological decline: what if we could intervene? represents a collaborative effort by clinicians and scientists from institutions including the Mayo Clinic, Mass General Brigham, the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology, and the European Space Agency (ESA). Read Beyond GLP-1s: The blueprint for systemic therapeutics that will reshape aging and medicine.
Carina earned her Doctor of Philosophy in Genetics, Evolution, and Environment from University College London in 2020, where she studied at the Institute of Healthy Ageing in the Department of Genetics, Evolution and Environment. Between 2021 and 2023, she was a Research Fellow at UCL, focusing on understanding the causes of and finding interventions to prevent aging-associated disease.
Carina has served as President of the London Evolutionary Research Network (LERN) since 2018, a pan-institutional nonprofit society established in 2002 that showcases the breadth of evolutionary research carried out by postgraduates at London institutions. Since 2018, she has also served as Co-Chair of the CleanTech Challenge, a global business plan competition for innovative clean technology business ideas, organized by London Business School and University College London.
In 2019, Carina cofounded Discover2Dream with her sister Serena, a nonprofit initiative aimed at giving students of all ages exposure to young professionals with whom they can relate. Carina has appeared on BBC News, Sky News, and The Observer podcast, and has been featured in the Financial Times, Evening Standard, The Times, and The Independent.
She has spoken at the Royal Institution in London, Space-Comm Expo, Life Sciences Baltics, and Synthetic Biology Summit. Watch The fight against time: can we slow down ageing? — with Carina Kern.
Listen to Necrosis Inhibitors To Pause The Diseases Of Aging, Biotech beyond earth: The future of medicine in space, and H-Span Podcast EP 8: Dr. Carina Kern.
Read Could ‘pausing’ cell death be the final frontier in medicine on Earth and beyond? and New Anti-Necrotic Therapeutic Guides Longevity Science.
Visit her LinkedIn profile, Wikipedia page, ResearchGate profile, and Google Scholar page. Follow her on YouTube.