Beyond Longevity

What happens when technology stops simply tracking our health and starts helping us understand what to do about it?Recorded at HLTH Europe in Amsterdam, this episode of Beyond Longevity features three conversations with founders working across very different areas of health technology. From understanding our individual stress response and making sense of an overwhelming amount of health data, to bringing rehabilitation into the home, these conversations explore what preventive health could actually look like in practice.Timothée Manschot, Founder and CEO of NOWATCH, is rethinking what a health wearable should do. NOWATCH continuously measures signals including electrodermal activity to understand how an individual’s body responds to stress and builds a personalised baseline over time. We discuss what Timothée calls “compassionate technology”, why more health data isn’t necessarily better, and NOWATCH’s unusual approach to privacy, where users remain in control of their own data.https://www.linkedin.com/in/timmanschot/Nowatch - Polsen Health | Screenless Health Tracker for Stress, Sleep, Activity & RecoverySamir Mitra, Founder and CEO of REYA.AI, has spent decades at the forefront of technology. He was part of the original Java team at Sun Microsystems and later became an Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Sequoia Capital. Today, he’s applying that experience to longevity medicine. REYA.AI helps clinicians bring together medical records, blood tests, genetics, wearables and other health data, using AI to identify what actually matters. We discuss where AI can outperform humans, where it can’t, and why Samir believes clinical judgement and context still need to remain at the centre of healthcare.https://www.linkedin.com/in/samir-mitra-1623164/Reya AiRoy Shteren, CEO and Co-Founder of WizeCare Technologies, is tackling another major challenge: how to make rehabilitation available to more people without requiring every session to happen face-to-face. WizeCare uses AI and movement tracking to support remote physiotherapy without additional hardware. We explore how the same technology could go beyond recovery and help identify changes in movement, mobility and fall risk before they become a bigger problem.https://www.linkedin.com/in/roy-shteren/https://www.wizecare.com/Find out more about HLTH Europe:https://hlth.com/events/europe/See you there next year.Next week:Part Two from HLTH Europe, where we explore the microbiome, breath-based disease detection, patient adherence and the AI infrastructure behind medical research.Timestamps00:00 Welcome to HLTH Europe in Amsterdam01:04 What We’re Exploring02:00 Timothée Manschot and NOWATCH04:08 Understanding Your Stress Baseline05:25 What Is Compassionate Technology?08:13 A Privacy-First Approach to Health Data15:22 Wearables, Health and Longevity17:29 Samir Mitra and REYA.AI21:32 How AI Can Help Clinicians23:17 Why Human Judgement Still Matters29:01 Where Could Healthcare AI Be in 10 Years?33:16 Roy Shteren and WizeCare36:51 From Rehabilitation to Prevention38:59 Can Remote Rehabilitation Scale?41:17 Final Thoughts and Part Two

What if a vaccine could help the immune system clear senescent “zombie” cells — damaged cells linked to ageing, chronic inflammation and age-related disease?In this episode of Beyond Longevity, Daphna Stern sits down with David Scieszka, PhD, MBA, a biomedical scientist, computational biologist, and Founder and CEO of Vertical Longevity Pharmaceuticals (VeLo Pharma). His route into longevity has been anything but conventional, spanning service in the US Army, wet-lab science, computational biology and, eventually, biotech entrepreneurship.VeLo Pharma is developing a senolytic vaccine designed to help the immune system recognise and remove senescent cells. Often described as “zombie cells”, these are damaged cells that have stopped dividing but remain active. As they accumulate with age, they can contribute to chronic inflammation, tissue dysfunction and age-related disease.The company’s first focus is atherosclerosis, where plaque builds up inside the arteries. The aim is to target senescent cells within the vasculature — the network of blood vessels that carries blood around the body — as a potential new way of tackling vascular ageing and cardiovascular disease.But this conversation goes far beyond one experimental vaccine.David and Daphna explore one of the biggest problems in longevity science: why so many promising discoveries look exciting in the lab, yet so few make the difficult journey into treatments that patients can actually use.They discuss where artificial intelligence can genuinely help drug development — and where the hype may run ahead of the science — what animal and primate studies can and cannot tell us, and what evidence would be needed before an approach like this could move towards human trials.David also talks candidly about the business of building a biotech company: learning how to approach investors, getting the fundraising ask wrong, understanding what investors actually need to see, and building a company around a mission that goes beyond simply creating another expensive longevity treatment.Running through the conversation is an even bigger question: if we do find effective ways to slow parts of the ageing process, who gets access to them first? Will longevity medicine remain something available primarily to those who can afford it — or can longevity eventually become something for everyone?GuestDavid Scieszka, PhD, MBABiomedical scientist, computational biologist, and Founder and CEOVertical Longevity Pharmaceuticals (Velo Pharma)Vertical Longevity PharmaceuticalsLinkedIn - Vertical Longevity PharmaceuticalsReach out to David on LinkedIn to find out about the upcoming “Ask VeLo Pharma Anything”00:00 Welcome and Big Question00:25 Meet David Cheska02:53 Army Roots of Longevity04:38 Choosing Biotech Path05:49 Wet Lab Meets Computation08:48 AI Promise and Limits13:19 Longevity for All Mission16:54 Vascular Ageing Explained19:29 Senescent Cells 10122:31 Lytic Vaccine Overview24:11 Dosing and Study Strategy26:12 How VLP Vaccines Work29:02 Safety and Public Trust29:58 Vaccine Safety Basics31:14 Senescent Cells Strategy32:42 Evidence So Far35:35 Primate Trial Goals36:40 Why Translation Fails39:55 Personalised Longevity Care42:41 PhD MBA Path44:51 Fundraising Lessons49:35 Mission-Driven Team51:32 Longevity Next Decade53:16 Rapid Fire Wrap55:17 Final Takeaways

What if heart disease, kidney disease and dementia share a common mechanism linked to ageing? And what if blocking a destructive form of cell death called necrosis could help protect several organs at once?In this episode, host Daphna Stern speaks with LinkGevity founders Dr Carina Kern and Serena Kern-Libera about their attempt to develop a new longevity drug targeting necrosis, ageing and age-related disease.Their work challenges the conventional model of drug discovery. Medicine generally treats kidney disease, cardiovascular disease and dementia as separate conditions. LinkGevity is asking whether targeting biology shared across these diseases could protect several organs and systems at once.At the centre of that approach is necrosis: a destructive form of cell death that can spread damage through surrounding tissue. LinkGevity’s lead candidate, Anti-Necrotic™️, is designed to protect cells from the calcium overload that drives this process. The company is preparing for clinical trials in kidney disease, while investigating whether the same mechanism could eventually have wider applications across ageing, organ preservation and tissue engineering.The work has received support from Innovate UK, Horizon Europe, the Francis Crick Institute and the UK Space Agency. LinkGevity was also selected as one of 12 companies for the SPACE-H accelerator, run in collaboration with NASA’s Human Research Program, TRISH and Microsoft Federal.The conversation explores the Blueprint Theory of Ageing, the limitations of treating age-related diseases one at a time, and why the kidney may provide a practical first route into human trials. It also examines what the existing laboratory evidence can—and cannot yet—tell us, what would disprove the company’s theory, and how LinkGevity is trying to separate scientific ambition from longevity hype.Dr Carina Kern is the founder and CEO of LinkGevity, an AI-enabled biotech company developing treatments for ageing and the loss of biological resilience. A geneticist and ageing researcher, she is the architect of the Blueprint Theory of Ageing, an integrative framework connecting evolutionary principles, genetic pathways, molecular mechanisms and clinical medicine. The theory underpins LinkGevity’s AI-driven drug-discovery platform.Serena Kern-Libera is co-founder, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of LinkGevity. Before founding the company with her sister, she worked at Magic Circle law firm Slaughter and May, the Bank of England and HM Treasury, and served as Private Secretary to the Chancellor of the Exchequer.Together, they lead a multidisciplinary team based at the Babraham Research Campus in Cambridge. Their lead programme is initially targeting kidney disease, but its larger ambition is to test whether blocking necrosis could help protect the body against several forms of age-related degeneration.You can find out more here:LinkGevity: www.linkgevity.comLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/linkgevity/X: @CarinaCarlaKernResearch papers:https://www.nature.com/articles/s41388…https://www.preprints.org/manuscript/202310.1387Timestamps* 00:00 — Introducing Dr Carina Kern, Serena Kern-Libera and LinkGevity* 02:30 — The family story behind the company* 05:40 — Lifespan, healthspan and the fear of prolonged ill health* 07:30 — Early C. elegans research and publishing findings that challenged convention* 11:00 — From academic research to building a company at Babraham* 13:15 — The Blueprint Theory of Ageing and the case for systems-level medicine* 17:00 — Can ageing be defined and measured well enough to regulate?* 21:30 — What GLP-1 drugs reveal about system-level treatments* 25:00 — Should kidney disease, heart disease and dementia be treated separately?* 27:45 — What the hallmarks of ageing explain—and what they may miss* 31:00 — What would disprove the Blueprint Theory?* 33:20 — Necrosis and apoptosis: two very different forms of cell death* 37:00 — How necrosis can spread tissue damage* 41:00 — Calcium overload and how Anti-Necrotic™️ is designed to work* 45:00 — The laboratory evidence so far* 48:30 — Why necrosis remains a barrier to growing organs in the lab* 52:00 — The route to human trials, beginning with kidney disease* 55:00 — NASA, the UK Space Agency and “cosmic kidneys”* 59:00 — Working with the NHS and the case for a gateway trial* 1:02:30 — Longevity hype, scientific rigour and the risks of the label* 1:06:00 — Is society prepared for a genuine breakthrough in healthspan?* 1:09:00 — What each sister is most afraid of getting wrong* 1:11:00 — Rapid-fire five questions* 1:14:00 — Closing reflections and host takeaway

At 39, Leslie Kenny was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and lupus and says she was told she had around five years to live. More than two decades later, she is in long-term remission and has turned that experience into a mission: helping patients become better informed, more involved and more confident in decisions about their own health.In this episode, Leslie Kenny, founder of Oxford Healthspan and co-founder of the Oxford Longevity Project, joins Daphna Stern to tell the story of how she challenged her original prognosis, found intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG) through her own research, changed her diet and ultimately reached remission.But her story also raises a much bigger question: where should patient empowerment end and medical expertise begin?The conversation then turns to spermidine, a naturally occurring compound found in the body and in foods that has attracted growing interest for its relationship with autophagy — the cellular recycling process that helps remove and reuse damaged cellular material. Leslie explains why she became convinced of its potential and why she believes natural compounds such as spermidine struggle to attract the research funding available to patentable drugs.Daphna also pushes on the evidence. How much do we actually know about spermidine in humans? What can observational studies tell us — and what can they not? How does the evidence compare with interventions such as rapamycin? And when does an intriguing longevity molecule become something we can genuinely recommend?The conversation expands beyond supplements into a broader discussion about personal responsibility for health, the exposome, the future of preventative medicine and what healthcare could look like if it focused not simply on extending life, but on helping people live well for longer — right through to the end.Guest BioLeslie Kenny is the founder of Oxford Healthspan and co-founder of the Oxford Longevity Project. Diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis and lupus at 39 and given a five-year prognosis, Kenny used patient research, dietary overhaul, and an experimental immunoglobulin therapy to reverse her condition into long-term remission. She trained at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition and now serves as Global Executive Ambassador for the Japan Autophagy Consortium. Through Oxford Healthspan, she develops food-derived spermidine and nettle-based nutraceuticals, and through the Oxford Longevity Project, she works alongside scientists including Sir Muir Gray, Sir Christopher Ball, Dr Paul Chen, and Emeritus Professor Dennis Noble to advance patient-centred ageing research.LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/leslie-kenny-oxford/Timestamps* 00:00 — Introduction to Leslie Kenny and her story* 02:10 — IVF, autoimmune disease and the diagnosis that changed everything* 04:30 — Questioning the original diagnosis and discovering a thyroid problem* 08:15 — How patient research led Leslie to intravenous immunoglobulin (IVIG)* 13:00 — Diet, elimination protocols and visualisation* 17:40 — Reaching remission and turning personal experience into advocacy* 21:50 — How to challenge your doctor without rejecting conventional medicine* 25:30 — What spermidine is and why Leslie became interested in it* 29:15 — Spermidine, the hallmarks of ageing and the comparison with rapamycin* 34:00 — Why natural compounds can struggle for funding, patents and attention* 38:20 — What the human evidence for spermidine actually tells us* 43:10 — The funding problem in independent longevity research* 45:30 — Oxford Healthspan and the Oxford Longevity Project* 48:00 — How much control do we really have over our health and ageing?* 52:00 — Rethinking hospitals, later life and what a good death looks like* 56:30 — Rapid-fire questions* 59:00 — Closing reflectionsReferences & Further ReadingKenny, L. — founder, Oxford HealthspanOxford Longevity Project (co-founded with Sir Muir Gray, Sir Christopher Ball, Dr. Paul Chen, Prof. Dennis Noble)Sears, B. — The Anti-Aging ZoneFranceschi, C. — originator of the "inflammaging" conceptPartridge, L., Madeo, F., Kennedy, B. — research on spermidine and the hallmarks of ageingEisenberg, T., et al. — Grazer study on spermidine and human cell telomeres (2021)

Nearly two decades ago, Dr Gil Blander was trying to convince investors of an idea that, at the time, sounded radical: blood biomarkers should not only be used to diagnose disease, but to help healthy people understand what to change before disease develops.Some thought he was crazy.That idea became InsideTracker, the company he founded 17 years ago, which brings together blood biomarkers, genetic information and wearable data to give people personalised recommendations for improving their health.In this conversation, Dr Blander traces the scientific journey that took him from the Weizmann Institute to MIT and eventually to founding InsideTracker. He explains what he learned from some of the early breakthroughs in longevity research, why collecting more health data is not enough if people do not act on it, and why he believes behaviour change may now be one of the biggest challenges in extending healthy life.We also discuss his recent decision to step back from his operational role at InsideTracker and what he describes as his “second career”: taking personalised, preventative health beyond the longevity community and making it relevant to a much wider population.Guest BioDr Gil Blander is the founder of InsideTracker, a personalised health and longevity platform that combines blood biomarkers, DNA and wearable data to generate individualised health recommendations.He trained as a scientist at the Weizmann Institute, where he worked with Professor Moshe Oren on p53 and cancer biology, before moving to MIT to join Professor Leonard Guarente’s laboratory during an important period in the study of genes associated with ageing and longevity.After 17 years leading InsideTracker, Dr Blander recently stepped back from his operational role to focus on bringing personalised and preventative health to a much broader population.About Dr Gil BlanderPrincipal: Healthspan Strategies Advisors and Founder and CEO of Stealth Health Tech startup* Instagram: Founder of @insidetracker* Instagram: Host of @beyond_healthspan_podcast* LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/gilblander* Company: insidetracker.com* Longevity by Design: info.insidetracker.com/longevitybydesignEpisode Chapters* 00:00 Welcome and Guest Introduction* 03:07 Why Data Alone Does Not Change Health* 05:02 Different People Need Different Motivation* 07:01 The Scientific Roots at Weizmann* 11:50 Inside MIT’s Early Longevity Research* 13:24 Leaving Academia for Industry* 16:04 The Idea Behind InsideTracker* 19:25 How InsideTracker Works* 20:35 Why Blood, DNA and Wearables Work Better Together* 26:14 Why Behaviour Change May Be the Real Frontier* 27:48 Taking Longevity Beyond the Longevity Bubble* 30:43 What Actually Makes Healthy Habits Stick* 34:58 What Real-World Data Can Teach Us* 40:29 Stepping Back and Starting a “Second Career”* 42:05 Longevity Hype, Science and the Limits of What We Know* 44:27 Rapid Fire* 47:20 Final Takeaways

In this episode of Beyond Longevity, Daphna speaks with Dr Peter Scriven, Co-Founder and Clinical & Scientific Director of LONGEVITY, about what longevity medicine should actually look like: moving from reactive, disease-led healthcare towards preventative, personalised medicine that tracks biomarkers, cardiovascular risk and health trajectory over time.Dr Peter describes much of conventional healthcare as ‘failure-based medicine’ — a system designed to respond once something has gone wrong. He questions the reliance on population-based ‘normal’ laboratory ranges, which can obscure meaningful changes within an individual, and makes the case for longitudinal ‘human telemetry’: following biomarkers and other health data over time rather than relying on isolated snapshots.They discuss what responsible longevity testing should look like, including a core panel of around 50–80 blood biomarkers, more targeted diagnostics according to age, sex, symptoms and individual goals, and the importance of having a clear clinical reason for every test. Dr Peter also explains why more testing is not necessarily better, and why interpretation, clinical oversight and sensible testing intervals matter.The conversation examines the realities of longevity medicine and preventative health screening, from several hundred pounds for more focused assessments to several thousand when extensive diagnostics and medical imaging are included, and where he believes people should prioritise their spending.Dr Peter explains how his father’s missed cardiovascular risk and inadequate lipid testing helped shape his approach to preventative medicine. He also discusses the largely unregulated ‘Wild West’ of longevity, including peptides and other interventions promoted ahead of strong clinical evidence, and the checks patients can make when assessing a longevity clinic or practitioner.And beneath the diagnostics, biological-age testing and emerging technologies, he returns to the foundations of healthspan: movement, nutrition, sleep and purpose.For those working with a limited budget, he identifies three areas he believes are worth considering first: a proper cardiovascular risk assessment, omega-3 to omega-6 balance, and GlycanAge testing.https://longevityclinics.life/https://www.linkedin.com/in/drpscriven/00:00 Why Prevention Matters03:12 Failure-Based Medicine04:34 Human Telemetry Monitoring06:28 Testing Without Overtesting09:53 Core vs Targeted Panels13:13 Cost and ROI of Diagnostics17:54 Healthspan Intervention Pyramid20:53 Normal Ranges vs Trajectories24:36 Missed Risks Real Stories28:46 Breaking Medical Silos33:49 Renaissance Medic Mindset36:05 Training Beyond Silos36:49 Regulating Longevity Medicine37:43 Patients or Permanent Clients41:01 Too Much Testing Ethics44:08 Peptides and Amateur Hype45:42 How to Vet a Clinic49:01 Budget Biomarkers That Matter52:13 Foundations and Wearables55:19 Future of Cellular Medicine58:30 Long-Term Clinic Journey01:00:00 Rapid Fire and Wrap Up

In this episode of Beyond Longevity, Daphna speaks with Jody Tropeano Greene, Head of Content at HLTH, and Alexa Mikhail, Senior Content Lead at HLTH US, about how HLTH identifies the healthcare topics that matter most, balances emerging trends with scientific evidence, and reflects the growing importance of longevity within modern healthcare.They explore the difference between healthy ageing—grounded in well-established principles such as sleep, nutrition, exercise, stress management and social connection—and the consumer longevity movement, where interventions are often expensive, and the supporting evidence is still evolving.The conversation examines the gap between health insights and meaningful behaviour change, asking why biomarker data alone rarely translates into better health outcomes. They also discuss whether healthcare systems and insurers are likely to invest more in preventative healthcare beyond wearables and lifestyle programmes.Other topics include the importance of social health and loneliness, the evidence gap in women’s health, why strength should take priority over the pursuit of being “small”, the opportunities and limitations of GLP-1 medicines, longevity’s communication challenge, and how artificial intelligence could reshape primary care and expand access to preventative healthcare. HLTH and Longevity: Healthy Ageing, Evidence and Women’s HealthBeyond Longevity examines how longevity has moved from a niche topic into mainstream healthcare, using HLTH’s major US and Europe conferences as a bellwether. Host Daphna speaks with HLTH head of content, Jody Tropeano Greene and HLTH US content lead, Alexa Mikhail, about how they build agenda programming that surfaces trending issues while insisting on credible evidence, and why they are dedicating a full day to longevity.They distinguish healthy ageing (population-level, researched basics such as sleep, nutrition, movement, stress and relationships) from consumer longevity biohacking (often expensive and sometimes unproven), discuss the “insight–action gap” from biomarker data, and debate whether insurers will fund prevention beyond wearables and lifestyle supports.HLTH USA is the premier event taking place November 15-18 in Las Vegas, where leaders from across the healthcare ecosystem come together to share insights, spark inspiration, and shape the global health agenda. Attendees gain a comprehensive view of healthcare advancements, from policy and market dynamics to cutting-edge consumer health technologies - all aimed at improving the well-being of individuals worldwide. Register and save $1,000+ by Friday, July 31https://hlth.com/Jody Tropeano GreeneHead of Content, HLTHhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/jodytropeano/Alexa MikhailContent Lead, HLTH USSenior health and longevity writer, SHE Media, Flow Spacehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/alexamikhail/00:00 Welcome to Beyond Longevity00:25 Why HLTH Matters01:26 Meet Jody and Alexa03:02 How HLTH Picks Topics04:41 Healthy Ageing vs Longevity07:51 Credibility Over Hype09:05 When Trends Go Mainstream11:49 Prevention and Insurance15:58 Loneliness as Longevity17:05 What Makes Startups Break Through19:19 Women Left Out of Data23:44 Strength Over Smallness26:41 Practical Healthspan Habits27:45 Elevating Women's Health29:19 Building Consumer Wellness31:24 Longevity Goes Mainstream32:21 Making Basics Profitable34:17 Longevity Language Problem35:24 Preparedness And Community38:45 GLP1 Promise And Risks42:13 Healthcare In Ten Years45:17 Assumptions To Challenge47:22 Rapid Fire And Wrap

On Beyond Longevity, host Daphna speaks with Dr Sundeep Dugar, PhD, co-founder of BlueOakNx and the scientists behind the blockbuster cholesterol medicines Zetia (ezetimibe) and Vytorin. He explains how Zetia transformed cholesterol treatment by blocking cholesterol absorption in the intestine, and reflects on what it really takes to discover a breakthrough medicine: collaboration, perseverance, intellectual honesty, and the willingness to follow the data despite constant uncertainty.Dr Sundeep discusses why artificial intelligence is set to transform drug discovery by accelerating analysis and identifying patterns that humans might miss, while arguing that it cannot replace scientific judgment or the need to validate therapies in complex biological systems. He also critiques modern drug development for being overly reductionist, focusing heavily on efficacy while too often overlooking whole-body biology and long-term safety.The conversation explores his decision to leave traditional pharmaceutical drug development and focus instead on extending healthspan through BlueOakNx. He explains the science behind mitochondrial health and epicatechin, a naturally occurring compound that promotes mitochondrial biogenesis and energy production, while emphasising that it is designed to complement—not replace—the foundations of good health, including exercise, sleep and nutrition.Dr Sundeep also explains why BlueOakNx chose the nutraceutical route, believing it offered the fastest way to make scientifically grounded interventions more accessible, more affordable and available to more people than the conventional pharmaceutical pathway. He discusses the company’s collaboration with the New York Academy of Sciences on a symposium series focused on energy metabolism, and BlueOakNx’s selection as one of just 40 teams chosen from more than 600 applicants to compete in the $101 million XPRIZE Healthspan competition.Resources* BlueOakNx website* Dr Sundeep’s LinkedIn* New York Academy of Sciences – Energy Symposium Series00:00 Podcast Intro Guest02:32 Blockbuster Drugs Legacy05:37 How Zetia Was Found07:29 Breakthroughs Doubt Lab11:46 AI Limits Drug Discovery17:47 Why Drug Candidates Fail20:52 From Pharma to Ageing21:54 Mitochondria Energy Quest27:23 Blue Oak Mission Epicatechin31:57 Key Terms Next Steps32:13 Not a Muscle Pill32:59 Mitochondria and Real Exercise34:26 Ageing and Energy Decline35:26 Supplement Not a Substitute37:19 Why Go Nutraceutical41:01 Science and Access Model43:50 Affordability and Outreach46:41 XPRIZE Healthspan Entry49:39 Safety First Philosophy54:14 Rapid Fire and Wrap Up58:06 Host Closing Message

Daphna sat down with Robert Gielow, founder of Mentry Pharma, to discuss what it really takes for foreign supplement and longevity companies to enter the pharmacy markets of Germany, Austria and Switzerland. He explains why many brands misunderstand the German-speaking market: distribution and pharmacy listings alone do not create demand, pharmacies are not straightforward sales channels, and sceptical consumers require multiple trust-building touchpoints before making a purchase.The conversation explores the practical realities of regulation, market access and enforcement, the differences between brick-and-mortar and online pharmacies, and why many market entries fail when companies focus on sales projections rather than customer acquisition and long-term retention. Gielow also discusses the challenges of consumer education, the influence of misinformation on social media, and the widening gap between rigorous scientific evidence and the content that attracts the greatest online attention.Finally, he argues that prevention remains undervalued across healthcare systems and that longevity does not have to depend on expensive interventions. Instead, he makes the case for focusing on the fundamentals: regular movement, good nutrition, quality sleep, strong relationships, and learning to listen to the body’s signals.https://www.mentry-pharma.com/https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertgielow/00:00 Welcome and Episode Setup02:16 Meet Robert and Mentory Pharma04:18 How Mentory Pharma Started08:31 Why Distribution Alone Fails11:04 Pharmacies Aren't Salespeople13:59 Why Brands Fail in Germany19:12 Regulation Reality Check25:39 Influencers vs Real Science28:17 What Even Is Longevity28:42 Vitamin D Rules Clash31:09 Enforcement Reality Check32:49 Why Prevention Lags35:39 Pharma Shifts to Prevention38:07 Markets Ahead of Europe43:25 Longevity for the Rich46:08 Back to Simple Habits50:34 Building Credible Brands55:26 Rapid Fire Takeaways57:55 Closing Reflections

Biology is undergoing one of the biggest transformations in its history. AI is helping researchers analyse enormous datasets, predict protein structures, identify drug targets, and accelerate scientific discovery in ways that would have been difficult to imagine just a few years ago. But AI is not replacing scientists. If anything, it is making human expertise, judgement, and scientific rigour more important than ever.In this conversation, we explore how the way science is done is changing. We discuss why so many promising discoveries never reach patients, why stronger collaboration between academia and industry matters, how breakthroughs such as AlphaFold are transforming biological research, and where AI is already delivering real-world results. We also ask some bigger questions: what can AI genuinely tell us about the human body, where are its limits, and are we sometimes confusing faster answers with deeper understanding?Dr Filippo Dall'Armellina is a biochemist with a PhD from the University of Liverpool, where his research combined wet lab science with computational methods, focusing on protein modelling and the application of artificial intelligence and deep learning to protein–lipid interactions for drug target discovery.Today, he advises pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and longevity companies on scientific and technical due diligence, clinical development strategy, and competitive landscape analysis, helping investors, founders, and leadership teams evaluate new technologies, therapeutic programmes, and emerging opportunities.His career spans academia, healthcare operations, and science communication. He has authored peer-reviewed publications, with his work featured in Science and discussed on the Science Podcast. He has contributed to studies on the physiological effects of suborbital spaceflight in collaboration with the European Space Agency (ESA), managed NHS COVID-19 vaccination programme operations across North West England, and produced Neuro Podcases, a clinical neuroscience podcast ranked among the world's top 5%, featuring researchers and clinicians discussing neuroscience, clinical trials, and translational medicine.Alongside his advisory work, Dr Dall'Armellina continues to collaborate with the University of Liverpool while supporting organisations working across biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, longevity, and human health.Connect with Dr. Dall'Armellina on LinkedIn 🔗 Latest Publication00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro02:08 Filippo Background Journey05:03 Skipping Masters to PhD08:33 Embracing Research Chaos12:39 Academia Industry Bridge19:46 Why Discoveries Fail23:44 AI in Structural Biology32:15 AlphaFold Explained36:58 Prediction vs Understanding41:42 AI Meets Longevity47:04 Next Five Years for AI49:28 AI Hype and Missteps53:07 Rapid Fire and Wrap Up56:21 Final Takeaways Outro

Beyond Longevity interviews Kyle Holbert, COO and co-founder of Longevity Centres of America, about how unexplained fatigue, brain fog, depression, anxiety, joint pain and gut issues derailed his health despite a healthy lifestyle and years of searching for answers.After seeing multiple GPs and therapists who either dismissed his symptoms or could not identify a cause, Kyle discovered he had severely low testosterone. Treatment with HCG led to a rapid improvement in his mental health and highlighted some of the limitations of time-constrained, symptom-focused healthcare.When other symptoms persisted, he turned to biohacking and concierge medicine. A heavy metals provocation test later suggested chronic mercury toxicity, and a year of intensive chelation and IV-based treatment became a turning point in his recovery, ultimately leading him to leave the family construction business and move into longevity medicine.The episode explores potential sources of mercury exposure, why individuals can respond very differently to similar toxic burdens, scepticism around many at-home detox products, and the importance of testing and clinician-guided treatment plans. Daphna and Kyle also discuss affordability, access to care, and the foundational role of movement, clean water, whole foods and targeted supplementation.Website: https://www.thelcoa.com/longevity-unlocked-podcast/Podcast: @longevityunlockedpod (https://www.instagram.com/longevityunlockedpod/)Greenville, SC: @thelcgreenville (https://www.instagram.com/thelcgreenville/)West Palm Beach, FL: @thelcfl (https://www.instagram.com/thelcfl/)Dr K on Instagram: @theosteodoc00:00 Podcast Setup01:50 Kyle’s Early Life04:26 Health Decline Begins07:13 Dismissed by Doctors12:20 Biohacking Breakthrough15:40 Conference and Deeper Testing17:38 Mercury Diagnosis and Chelation19:38 Building Longevity Centres20:30 Detox Timeline and Protocols23:27 Sources of Heavy Metals26:50 Generational Toxic Buildup27:33 How Common Are Metals28:12 Why Symptoms Vary29:27 Detox Even If Fine31:14 Detox Hype vs Reality34:30 Making Care Affordable40:52 How to Vet Clinics43:40 Start With Basics45:15 Avoid Longevity Traps49:34 Supplements and Telehealth53:09 Rapid Fire and Wrap55:50 Final Takeaways

In this episode of Beyond Longevity, Daphna speaks with Nikolina Lauc, CEO and co-founder of GlycanAge, about glycobiology, immune ageing, and the role of chronic inflammation in ageing.Nikolina explains why glycans, the complex sugar structures attached to our antibodies, may offer one of the clearest windows into the state of the immune system. The conversation explores “inflammaging”, the idea that chronic, low-grade inflammation may not simply be a consequence of ageing, but one of the forces actively driving it.They discuss why antibody glycans may capture biological risk earlier than routine markers such as CRP, including research suggesting that glycan-based changes can appear years before standard blood tests show anything is wrong. Nikolina also explains how glycan testing may help predict disease risk and mortality and why repeat testing can reveal whether lifestyle changes are having a measurable biological effect.Daphna and Nikolina also explore biological-age clocks, stress, high-performance lifestyles, exercise, pregnancy, menopause, and the strong influence of sex hormones, including HRT. The episode looks at why glycan testing is not yet part of routine clinical practice, the technical barriers involved, and the bigger question at the heart of preventive health: what should we do when we can see risk before disease appears?GlycanAge showed very high reproducibility both in the blinded sample experiment run by Jamie Haywood at Alden Scientific, and independently in collaboration with Mike Snyder’s group at Stanford [Stanford paper reference]. Epigenetic clocks showed significant day-to-day oscillations in epigenetic age measurements [daily oscillation paper reference], which becomes important when trying to measure relatively small intervention effects over time.We recently completed a UK Biobank study showing that the glycan markers we measure were more predictive of all-cause mortality than routine blood biochemistry alone; combining both further improved prediction performance (sharing the pre-print here).We also published a large study across 42 cohorts and ~20,000 individuals showing that GlycanAge predicts all-cause mortality independently of traditional risk factors including BMI, CRP, hypertension, smoking, LDL, diabetes, cardiovascular disease history, and kidney markers. Across cohorts, every additional GlycanAge year was associated with roughly a 5-10% increase in all-cause mortality risk (sharing the pre-print here).Another recent preprint evaluating epigenetic age clocks showed they do not substantially improve prediction of morbidity and mortality beyond information already captured through routine clinical blood biomarkers and standard risk factors [epigenetic clock preprint reference].Background and key references are below:GlycanAge introGlycanAge is a clinically validated biomarker platform originating from the work of Professor Gordan Lauc. Over the past five years, we've translated his research into a scalable clinical biomarker.Today, GlycanAge is used in more than 2,000 private clinics worldwide and collaborates with leading academic and clinical partners including Mayo Clinic, Harvard Medical School, Northwestern Medicine, Mohammed Bin Rashid University of Medicine and Health Sciences, King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology, Clinique La Prairie and many others, supporting both immune age tracking and disease-focused applications, particularly in cardiovascular and metabolic health.Key references below:Scientific Founder & OriginsProfessor Gordan Lauc is one of the pioneers of human glycomics and co-founded the Human Glycome Project (with Harvard’s Richard Cummings). He discovered GlycanAge as one of the first systemic measures of biological aging based on immune glycosylation.Founder, Genos Research InstituteProfessor of Biochemistry, University of ZagrebHonorary Professor, King’s College LondonJohns Hopkins Scholar800+ publications • 20,000+ citations • H-index 77A New Class of Biological ClockGlycanAge is the first inflammaging clock, measuring chronic low-grade inflammation through IgG glycosylation, independent of acute events.First published in The Journal of Gerontology 2013Validated in 350+ peer-reviewed papers across >300,000 human samplesHighest precision in the field: <1% analytical variationIndependently confirmed by Stanford (GeroScience 2024)Prediction of Morbidity & MortalityGlycan signatures predict multiple future clinical outcomes; I'm sharing a review (Biotechnology Advances 2023) linking IgG glycans to 72+ disease indications, where we see specific glycan shifts up to 10 years before symptoms onset or clinical diagnosis.Cardiovascular diseaseHarvard-led studies showed up to 2× increased ASCVD risk, independent of LDL, CRP, BMI (Circulation Research 2024, Journal of Clinical Lipidology 2025)In a Middle Eastern replication cohort, IgG N-glycans predicted a ~2× higher risk of premature myocardial infarction, independent of traditional risk factors (European Heart Journal 2025).First biomarker demonstrating female-specific cardiovascular risk patterns (Diabetes Care 2022)Diabetes Glycan changes predict transition from normoglycemia → pre-diabetes → T2D years in advance with AUC 0.895 (Cardiovascular Diabetology 2025)In children with new-onset Type 1 diabetes, distinct IgG and plasma N-glycan changes enabled strong discrimination between cases and controls AUC ≈ 0.915 (Diabetologia 2022).Cross-Population ValidationBeyond European cohorts: in a study of 27 populations across 14 countries, IgG glycosylation patterns tracked with age/sex and correlated with life expectancy and national health indices (HDI, SDG, MDG), demonstrating validity across genetically and environmentally diverse populations (Aging 2020).Interventions GlycanAge Responds To: Caloric restriction & fasting (Nature Aging 2025, Frontiers 2022 + pre-publication on fasting)Exercise (Glycoconjugate journal 2024)Menopausal HRT & testosterone therapy (Aging 2020, GeroScience 2025, JCI Insight 2017)Weight loss & GLP-1 therapy (Journal of Obesity 2021 + pre-publication on GLP-1 )Therapeutic plasma exchange (Aging Cell 2025)00:00 Welcome to Beyond Longevity00:41 Meet Nicolina Loud02:33 Glycans Explained Simply05:02 Glycans Everywhere in Biology06:46 Inflammaging and Ageing Theory08:37 Why Glycans Beat Standard Markers12:10 From Lab Discovery to Company15:51 What Glycan Age...

Daphna sat down with Alan Graves, founder of DoNotAge, for an in-depth conversation about what it takes to make longevity science more credible, more collaborative and more accessible.After a serious health decline in his late twenties, Alan entered the longevity field after learning that ageing may be more malleable than he had once thought. He went on to build DoNotAge as a self-funded health research organisation, using consumer supplements to help fund ageing research, support external labs and emerging researchers, provide high-purity ingredients for independent studies, and translate complex science into language people can actually understand.The conversation covers why longevity science is still difficult to access, why the supplement industry has a credibility problem, and how marketing, underdosing and weak “science-backed” claims have made it hard for consumers to know what to trust.Alan also discusses the realities of clinical trials, why they are slow and expensive, and the studies DoNotAge is currently supporting or planning, including work around spermidine, NAD, Crohn’s disease, berberine and biological age clocks.In striving to make longevity easier and more practical, Alan has also introduced a one-a-day sachet designed to simplify adherence. They also explore his focus on sirtuin 6 activation, DoNotAge’s free London conference, and the wider aim of making longevity more affordable, practical and collaborative.DoNotAge.org is a health research organisation.You can learn more at https://routine.donotage.org00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro02:52 Alan’s Unlikely Origin Story04:34 From Self-Experiment to Do Not Age06:45 Funding Gap and New Model08:12 Democratising Longevity Science09:48 Research Company Not Supplements11:09 Why Clinical Trials Take Years12:50 How Do Not Age Is Structured15:09 Supporting Labs Worldwide18:01 Supplement Industry Credibility Crisis21:01 How Consumers Verify Claims22:42 Stepping Down as CEO25:11 Choosing Which Research to Fund26:45 Upcoming Trials and What’s Next28:10 Basics Before Supplements31:43 Testing and Biological Age33:24 The One-a-Day Sachet Idea36:03 Clinical Trials Pipeline36:55 Making Longevity Affordable39:58 Pricing Ethics and Dosage41:33 Hype vs Evidence in Longevity44:51 Who Needs Supplements When46:55 Free Unbiased Science Conference53:02 What Excites Him Next54:08 SIRT6 Activator Deep Dive58:30 Why Healthcare Won’t Adopt It01:01:44 Boxing, Balance, and Ageing Goals01:04:41 Rapid Fire and Wrap Up01:07:15 Host Takeaways and Conclusion

In this episode of Beyond Longevity, Daphna speaks with Dr David Cox, a health journalist (BBC, The Guardian, The Telegraph, NBC News and others), who holds a PhD in neuroscience from the University of Cambridge and is the author of The Age Code, about how diet, ultra-processed foods and the modern food environment shape biological ageing.Dr David argues that the longevity conversation often focuses too heavily on future drug breakthroughs, supplements and biohacking, while overlooking lower-hanging fruit that could already have a meaningful impact on long-term health. He explains why reducing ultra-processed foods, increasing fibre intake and paying closer attention to micronutrients such as vitamin K may matter far more than many people realise.The conversation explores gut ageing and its relationship with immune ageing, possible drivers behind the rise in early-onset cancers, and practical lifestyle strategies that may support healthier ageing. These include slow cooking, eating more protein and calories earlier in the day, lowering dietary acid load through fruits, vegetables and herbs, and the role omega-3s may play in long-term health.Daphna and Dr David also discuss biological ageing tests, visceral fat, kidney health markers, the limitations of CGMs for the average person, exercise mimetics, affordability within longevity medicine, and whether governments should take a far more active role in tackling the everyday drivers of chronic disease and accelerated ageing.The Age Code: https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/0008708878https://www.instagram.com/drdavidcoxhealthhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-david-cox-6b21966600:00 Welcome and Guest Intro02:00 From PhD to Journalism03:17 Science Scepticism and Nuance05:22 Trust Crisis in Health06:44 Protein Hype vs Fibre07:40 Micronutrients Matter09:07 Inside The Age Code10:50 Early Onset Cancer Clues12:38 Gut Ageing Explained14:49 Ten Nutritional Stressors17:55 Ultra Processed Food Reality19:32 Personal Choice vs Policy23:33 Longevity Focus Misplaced25:00 Ageing Tests and Omega 327:39 Advice for Any Budget29:48 Sauna Protocols31:04 Metabolomics Health Snapshots33:16 Testing Anxiety and Rule of Three35:41 His Own Biomarker Wake Up37:41 Best and Overrated Biomarkers41:25 Exercise Mimetic Drugs Debate48:05 Government and Ageing Strategy50:23 Kitchen Takeaways and Seaweed53:18 Rapid Fire Round56:08 Final Reflections and Outro

Supplements promise a lot: mitochondrial support, better brain health, healthier gut function, anti-ageing benefits and more.But how much of that is real science, and how much is simply clever wording on a label?In this episode of Beyond Longevity, Dr Luke Bucci, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer at Juvenon, brings both a scientist’s eye and decades of experience in the supplement industry to one of the most confusing areas of longevity.Dr Luke explains the difference between a product being described as “science-backed” and one that is supported by meaningful human clinical evidence. He also discusses why the dose, form and standardisation of an ingredient matter, and why “fairy-dusting” fashionable ingredients into a formula can make a product sound far more proven than it really is.We talk about bioavailability, absorption, the gut microbiome, and why feeling stimulated is not the same as supporting mitochondrial health. Dr Luke also explains why creatine has moved beyond the gym, why blood flow and nitric oxide matter as we age, and how nutrients such as magnesium, vitamin D3, omega-3s, polyphenols and CoQ10 fit into a more thoughtful approach to supplementation.This is a practical and refreshingly honest conversation about how to read beyond the label, ask better questions, and think more clearly about what supplements can, and cannot, do.Links:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/juvenonwellnessFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Juvenon/Website: https://juvenon.com/00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro01:53 Dr Bucci Origin Story03:26 Science vs Marketing Today04:44 Science Backed vs Clinical09:14 Fairy Dusting Exposed11:05 Bioavailability Reality Check14:15 Standardisation and Sourcing22:03 Gut Microbiome Benefits24:30 Testing and Trial Periods27:33 Longevity Trend Explained30:35 Mitochondria 10134:14 Stimulants vs Real Energy40:47 Stimulant Band Aid Trap41:51 Creatine Beyond The Gym45:08 Creatine Dosing And Safety47:11 Creatine For Brain Ageing50:53 Why Blood Flow Declines53:42 Nitric Oxide Basics57:44 Arginine Silicate Explained01:04:45 Polyphenols And Nitrates01:06:53 My Essential Supplements01:11:36 Rapid Fire Wisdom01:13:49 Episode Takeaways

This week on Beyond Longevity, I am joined by Dr Herna de Wit, CEO and Founder of Omnisci Consulting, with a PhD in Biochemistry and an LLB in Law.Dr Herna brings a very unusual and valuable combination to the longevity conversation: deep scientific training, legal expertise and hands-on experience advising companies in the health, biotech and longevity space.Longevity is full of exciting science, but it is also a field where marketing can move faster than evidence. In this episode, we ask a simple but important question: how do we separate what is genuinely credible from what merely sounds convincing?Dr Herna shares her five-point “scientific sanity check” for evaluating longevity products, supplements and protocols. We discuss why human RCT data matters more than animal or cell studies, why dosage and bioavailability are often overlooked, what biological age clocks can and cannot tell us, and why safety, third-party testing, and regulatory discipline are essential in a fast-moving market.We also look at longevity from the perspective of investors and company builders. What are the red flags? What makes a claim scientifically weak? And why does defensible intellectual property matter far beyond simply having a patent?Dr Herna explains how companies can think more intelligently about protectability, including through delivery systems, synergistic formulations, data, know-how and clearer scientific positioning.The conversation then turns to South Africa, a market that many listeners may not immediately associate with longevity, but one that raises fascinating questions. We discuss medical tourism, scientific talent, regulatory realities, affordability and whether South Africa could carve out a distinctive role in the global healthspan conversation.Finally, we speak about one of the most important tensions in longevity: if the science advances, who actually gets access? Is longevity already becoming another layer of privilege, or can the field develop in a way that is more credible, more inclusive and more useful?This is a conversation about evidence, accountability and the future of a field that urgently needs both excitement and discipline.Links:https://www.linkedin.com/in/herna-de-wit-phd-llb/https://linktr.ee/drherna.omnisci00:00 Show Intro and Guest02:41 Dr Herna’s Unusual Path04:29 What She Does Today06:13 Five Point Science Audit11:17 Investor Red Flags15:31 IP Beyond Patents20:12 Open Science vs Profit24:35 Founder IP Strategy32:54 Global Longevity Hotspots33:42 South Africa Opportunity36:33 Access and Inequality43:12 Regulation and Innovation46:20 How to Work With Dr Herna50:02 Rapid Fire Questions52:20 Final Takeaways Outro

On Beyond Longevity, Dr Filippo Ongaro, medical doctor, entrepreneur, and strategic advisor, shares how nearly eight years working with astronauts at the European Space Agency shaped the way he thinks about ageing.In space, the body can lose muscle, bone and resilience at a frightening speed. Stress, sleep disruption, nutrition, movement and circadian misalignment are not lifestyle details. They become central medical issues. For Dr Filippo, space became a kind of accelerated ageing model, showing in fast-forward what happens when the systems that keep us strong begin to break down, and why exercise and nutrition are such powerful countermeasures.After leaving ESA, Dr Filippo opened one of Italy’s early anti-ageing and functional medicine centres. But over time, he came to believe that the biggest obstacle in longevity is not simply knowledge, testing, or more biomarkers. It is the behaviour gap. People often know what they should be doing. The harder question is why they do not follow through.Together with his wife Sonya, he shifted from one-to-one clinical work into education, coaching, professional training and strategic advisory, with a focus on making longevity more accessible, affordable and practical, including through pharmacy-based pathways.In this conversation, he argues that longevity should focus on healthspan, avoid overpromising, build trust, start earlier with younger people, and move beyond fear of death towards purpose, identity and the joy of lifelinks: www.metodo-ongaro.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/dr-filippo-ongaro/ Dr. Filippo Ongaro00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro02:53 From ESA to Longevity05:07 Space as Accelerated Ageing07:40 Countermeasures and Behaviour Gap09:53 Mindset Over Biohacking14:24 Mission Drives Discipline17:22 Delayed Gratification Science20:37 Building Anti-Ageing Practice22:11 Why People Don't Follow Through24:31 Who Wanted Anti-Ageing Help28:16 Pivot to Education at Scale31:53 Training Health Professionals32:24 Scaling Impact Through Partners33:27 Broadening the Audience34:36 Affordable Longevity Access37:11 Institutions and Mass Market40:14 Business Advice for Clinicians43:26 Hype, Trust, and PR45:07 Fear Versus Joy of Life47:16 Identity Driven Change53:24 Future of Longevity Market56:00 Healthspan Over Lifespan57:58 Rapid Fire and Wrap Up01:00:18 Final Episode Takeaways

Michael A. Clinton, former President of Hearst Magazines.Michael spent four decades at the top of the publishing world, including as President and Publishing Director of Hearst Magazines, before turning his attention to one of the biggest questions of our time. If many of us are likely to live longer than previous generations, how do we make the second half of life not just longer, but more intentional, productive and meaningful?In this episode of Beyond Longevity, Michael discusses the ideas behind his book ROAR and his framework for rethinking later life. ROAR stands for Reimagine, Own your numbers, Action plan and Relationships, and it became the foundation for Roar Forward, his B2B platform advising organisations on the fast-changing 50-plus consumer.The conversation explores why Michael believes we need to shift the language from “ageing” to “longevity”, how culture and business are slowly beginning to respond, and why institutions, employers and policymakers still have a long way to go.Michael also previews ideas from his new book, Longevity Nation, which looks at the people, companies and innovations reshaping what longer lives could mean. He raises important concerns about inequality, access and the growing number of products making claims that are not always backed by evidence.This is also a very personal conversation. Michael reflects on his working-class roots in Pittsburgh, the moment that changed how he thought about identity and reinvention, and why the longest chapter of life may be the one most people have planned for the least.The episode also touches on the economic power of the $8.3 trillion 50-plus consumer, why this market is still widely misunderstood, and the one longevity habit Michael believes anyone can begin with, regardless of income.Links:Longevity NationROAR forwardLinkedIn00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro02:19 Early Life and First Memory03:17 Ambition and Upbringing05:12 Finding His Career Path06:29 Hearst Lessons on Identity09:22 ROAR Framework Explained13:29 Longevity Economy for Business16:19 Language and Pro Age Messaging18:43 Brands and Countries Adapting21:55 Fear and Reinvention Mindset22:59 Purposeful Second Act23:38 Reimagineer Stories24:37 Why Longevity Nation27:33 Inequality and Access30:13 America and 100 Year Life33:18 Policy Gaps to Fix35:53 Hope Worries Takeaway40:16 Rapid Fire Round42:42 Longevity Habits and Myths45:05 Closing Reflections

What does good prevention actually look like, and is the longevity industry helping people live better, or simply making health feel more complicated?In this episode of Beyond Longevity, Daphna speaks with Niko Hems, Operations Lead at YEARS, a longevity clinic in Berlin, Germany.Niko brings a rare perspective to the conversation. He works inside the longevity field, but he is not afraid to challenge it. He believes deeply in prevention, yet he is sharply aware of where the industry can go wrong, from over-testing and over-promising to fringe science and the uncomfortable gap between those who can afford cutting-edge healthcare and those who are still struggling to access the basics.His own story makes this especially interesting. At 13, Niko became fascinated by nutrition and fitness while trying to gain weight and feel better in his body. Years later, after completing a Master’s in Longevity Sciences and working inside one of Germany’s leading longevity clinics, he put himself through the kinds of tests many people now associate with the future of health, including genome sequencing, microbiome analysis and more than 200 biomarkers.The result was not quite what he expected. Instead of clarity, much of it created anxiety. Instead of answers, it raised a harder question: when does prevention become too much?This is a refreshingly honest conversation about the promises and problems of modern longevity, the tests that help versus the ones that confuse, the basics that still matter most, and what a more credible, useful and accessible version of prevention could look like.Niko Hems Head of Growth at YEARS.Host of Return on Health podcast.Links:https://nikohems.dehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/niko-hems/https://returnonhealth.de/00:00 Podcast intro and themes01:52 Nico’s path into longevity03:37 Defining longevity and healthspan04:47 Peakspan explained06:26 Basics that move the needle08:32 When testing becomes anxiety10:07 Inside the Years clinic model14:26 Cost access and inequality15:58 Who buys high-end programs17:55 What 16K actually includes20:43 Why behaviour change is hard24:07 Are we really getting healthier26:04 Lifespan hype vs healthspan focus28:25 Prevention Over Testing29:23 Affordable Core Diagnostics30:50 Why Healthcare Lags32:58 Fixing Incentives37:37 Longevity Branding Problem41:09 Basics That Move Needle43:28 Free High Impact Habits46:22 AI And Longevity Future52:04 Rapid Fire Wrap Up53:42 Final Takeaways

In this ViVE conference bonus episode of Beyond Longevity, recorded live at the ViVE event in Los Angeles, the conversation explores how BioAro is seeking to bring different strands of personalised health data together within a single longevity platform.Brock Hay explains BioAro’s approach to integrating genomics, microbiome testing, biomarker analysis, AI-driven interpretation, and personalized supplementation. The central idea is that health and longevity cannot be understood through any single test alone, but require a broader and more connected picture of the individual.The conversation also examines one of the most important questions in modern health technology, namely data privacy. As more companies collect deeply personal biological information, the focus turns to who owns that data, how it is stored, and whether individuals truly remain in control of how it is used.The episode also explores how tools such as telomere testing, methylation analysis, gut microbiome testing, and athlete-focused genomics are being positioned within the wider move towards preventive health. It also considers how far today’s longevity interventions can genuinely take us, and where the limits of current science and commercial promise still remain.Links:https://bioaro.com/linkedin.com/in/brock-hay-9520447100:00 Welcome to Beyond Longevity02:11 Meet Bio Arrow at ViVE02:23 All in One Longevity Platform05:02 Genomics Explained Simply07:03 Privacy and Data Security09:13 Genes as Prevention Tools11:23 Methylation and Telomeres12:08 Who It’s For and Pricing16:13 Key Longevity Biomarker17:40 Telomeres and Supplements22:13 Future of Personalized Medicine24:10 Gut Microbiome Testing28:43 Founder Story and Integration32:38 Research vs Consent37:06 Vatra Decentralized Storage38:58 Rapid Fire Longevity Tips41:06 Closing Takeaways

On Beyond Longevity, Corinne Briaud Manon discusses women’s healthspan through the lenses of science, consumer trust and commercial execution, drawing on her experience in major corporates and her work across Green Marlin, which advises health and longevity startups, and LongHER, a women’s healthspan community platform.She explains how the two initiatives connect, including how startups can test their propositions with real consumers, and outlines common early-stage pitfalls such as focusing too much on technical detail and not enough on real consumer need, lacking competitive awareness and structure, and letting passion override business discipline.The conversation explores what “science-backed” should really mean, why longevity is currently a kind of wild west with real credibility risks, and why women’s health needs to become a serious business if it is to address historic underinvestment.Corinne emphasises the importance of getting the basics right first for women, including basic health assessments, body composition, sleep, movement, strength and social connection, rather than spending blindly on superficial solutions. She also points out that access remains skewed towards the privileged and that prevention will need to be properly incentivised if it is to reach the masses.Instagram: @‌longher_collectivehttps://www.linkedin.com/in/corinne-briaud-manon/00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro01:38 Two Ventures Overview02:43 Ecosystem Linking Both04:17 How Longher Helps Startups06:20 Green Marlin Origin Story07:39 Startup Gaps and Fixes11:48 Passion Versus Business13:00 Spotting Real Innovation14:44 Authenticity in Longevity Clinics16:53 From Lab to Market18:53 What Science Backed Means20:56 Longevity Wild West24:09 Why Womens Health Must Scale28:01 Workplace Healthspan Shift28:30 Workplace Health Costs29:19 Menopause Support Programs30:57 Women Led Health Startups32:09 Beauty Versus Longevity Hype33:54 Muscle Health Foundations35:29 Where To Begin Basics39:17 Stop Wasting On Superficial41:14 Longevity Access Inequality45:19 Prevention Model Shift50:02 Future Of Longevity Trust51:49 Rapid Fire Takeaways55:32 Closing Reflections

Professor Lorna Harries has spent more than two decades studying why cells age and what might be done about it. In this episode, she explains one of the most overlooked mechanisms in ageing biology, RNA splicing. When cells lose control of this process, they become stressed, dysfunctional and can tip into senescence, a state that contributes to ageing across almost every organ system.She explains what senescent cells actually do, how the signals they release can spread damage from one tissue to another, and why calling them “zombie cells” does not come close to telling the full story. We talk about the possibility of intervening before cells reach an irreversible state, why targeting the biology of ageing itself may matter more than tackling diseases one at a time, and what meaningful rejuvenation should really look like.Prof Lorna also discusses the challenge of turning lab science into therapies through her spin-out SENISCA, her work with L’Oréal, and why conditions such as IPF are an important place to begin. Along the way, she addresses the tougher questions too, including how longevity science moves from promise to treatment, where the field risks drifting into hype, and whether these advances will be available to the many or only the few.Links:http://www.senisca/http://www.iscarna.com/https://teamrna.wixsite.com/harrieslabhttps://experts.exeter.ac.uk/1873-lorna-harriesInnovate UK ICURe Programmehttps://iuk-business-connect.org.uk/programme/icure/ 00:00 Podcast Intro Guest Setup01:50 Meet Professor Harris Basics02:16 DNA RNA Explained03:38 RNA Splicing And Ageing05:48 What Senescent Cells Do07:38 Reversing Senescence Window09:01 Fat Tissue And Faster Ageing11:01 Splicing As Central Hallmark12:11 Rejuvenation Discovery Story13:52 From Lab To Spinout Company16:41 Translating Science To Products19:17 Therapy Targets IPF And Beyond21:45 Why Translation Often Fails23:19 Defining Real Rejuvenation25:14 Avoiding Hype In Longevity27:17 Who Is Lagging Behind27:37 Regulatory Mindset Shift28:47 Trials Built for Ageing29:28 Scepticism and Overhype31:25 Is Ageing a Disease32:49 Policy and Demographic Timebomb33:48 Advocacy and Communication35:24 Personal Ageing Habits36:24 Key Unasked Questions39:15 Longevity for the Rich41:43 Access via NHS and Patents45:06 Rapid Fire and Myths49:05 Closing Reflections

Recorded at the 2026 VIVE conference in Los Angeles, this Beyond Longevity mini-series episode features Mark Zemel, co-founder and CEO of Retia Medical, discussing the company’s hemodynamic monitoring technology that turns continuous bedside physiological signals into real-time clinical insights for high-risk surgery and critical care.Marc explains Retia’s aim to detect early deterioration, guide diagnosis and therapy, and avoid the unreliability, invasiveness and complexity of older tools, noting deployment in 75 US hospitals and distribution via Medtronic, plus presence in 18 countries.He highlights FDA clearance for Argos Infinity enterprise software, which extends insights across the hospital and to clinicians’ phones and laptops, and shares a case where rapid detection of falling stroke volume revealed bleeding during AAA repair. The conversation covers workflow-first design, interoperability, cybersecurity, regulatory strategy, and a future path from ICU to broader wards and ultimately wearables for earlier intervention and preventative care.00:00 Beyond Longevity Intro00:44 Meet Mark Zeel01:40 Rata Medical Mission02:54 Argos Infinity Launch03:58 Clinicians Want Real Time05:19 Surgery Near Miss Story07:20 Why Accuracy Matters08:42 Why Algorithms Are Hard10:08 From ICU To Wearables12:20 Scaling Distribution Globally13:22 Plug And Play Integration15:22 Wearables And Data Overload18:31 Alerts And Clinical Judgment20:16 AI As Decision Support21:56 US Versus Europe Markets23:09 Wearables Beyond EMRs23:57 Regulation And Cybersecurity25:07 FDA And AI Pathways26:50 Clinician Workflow Design29:39 Bad Data From Friction31:58 Open Ecosystems Future33:25 Prevention And Longevity35:46 Personal Why Wearables Matter39:24 From ICU To Early Detection41:44 Rapid Fire And Wrap

This week’s guest is Avivah Wittenberg-Cox. Avivah advises leaders on gender and generational balance, the future of work, and the longevity economy. She hosts the podcast 4-Quarter Lives, publishes the Substack Elderberries, and writes regularly for Forbes and Harvard Business Review. She is Visiting Faculty at Oxford’s Saïd Business School, co-directs the Longevity Leadership Programme at Católica Lisbon, and has given three TED Talks.In this episode, Avivah and Daphna explore how longer lives are reshaping work, business, and society. Avivah argues that longevity is not just a health story but a structural shift that is forcing organisations to rethink how they are built, how careers unfold, and how different generations work together.She explains why the old pyramid model of the workforce is giving way to a more square demographic reality, with far more balance between younger and older generations than most institutions were designed for. That shift brings real pressure, from pensions to healthcare, but also major opportunities for businesses willing to adapt.The conversation looks at why older workers are still too often overlooked, what businesses lose when they fail to value experience, and why age-inclusive thinking is becoming a strategic advantage rather than a social add-on. More broadly, the episode challenges outdated assumptions about ageing and asks what it would mean to build a society that treats longer lives as a source of possibility, not decline.This episode is a reminder that longevity is not only changing how long we live, but how we work, lead, learn, and contribute across the course of our lives.https://www.avivahwittenbergcox.com/https://elderberries.substack.comhttps://elderberries.substack.com/podcasthttps://www.ted.com/search?q=Avivah+Wittenberg+Coxhttps://20-first.com/https://www.forbes.com/sites/avivahwittenbergcox/#61c5a38ebf1900:00 Longevity Meets Work02:06 Longevity Mega Trend03:09 Institutions Lag Behind05:37 From Gender To Age07:39 Women And Longer Lives10:08 Multi Stage Careers11:26 Rethinking Education Midlife15:29 Rebranding Old Age17:54 Opportunity And Ageism21:24 Fear Of Ageing And Happiness25:37 Goldman Sachs And AI27:17 Company First Mover Advantage28:43 Who Is Leading The Way29:52 Brands Embrace Pro Ageing30:21 Longevity In Hospitality31:12 Retirees As Consultants31:56 Why Leaders Miss Demographics35:29 Government Levers And Limits38:34 The Square Society Shift40:43 Measuring Longevity Readiness43:25 Advice Four Quarter Lives47:54 Designing A Four Quarter Life53:22 Ageing Better Than Expected54:46 Rapid Fire And Wrap Up

In this episode, Dr Jin-Xiong She, a scientist with more than 400 publications, over 20,000 citations, and more than $100 million in research funding, explains why he left the top tier of academic medicine to pursue something more urgent: finding better ways to detect decline early and protect healthspan before disease takes hold. He shares what nearly 100,000 NAD tests have uncovered and why he believes biomarker baselines could change the way we think about prevention.https://www.jinfiniti.com/https://www.youtube.com/@ProfJinSheIn this episode:00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro01:47 From Genomics to Longevity04:18 T1D TEDDY Study Breakthroughs06:07 Leaving Academia for Impact07:37 Healthspan Over Lifespan10:09 TAO Test Act Optimise13:20 Choosing Actionable Biomarkers17:02 Why NAD Tops the List21:45 NAD Decline and Key Drivers25:21 Raising NAD Lifestyle vs Supplements27:51 Athletes' Inflammation and Low NAD31:54 Optimal NAD Range and Niacin Risks37:28 SubQ Injections vs Oral NMN Data41:42 Dosing and Cutting Useless Supplements43:52 Access Economics and Policy Ideas46:50 Industry Adoption and Big Names47:59 Supplement Market Problems50:17 Rapid Fire and Closing Takeaways52:04 Final Summary and Goodbye

What does it take to turn longevity science into real-world policy? In this episode, Daphna speaks with Dr Ilia Stambler, historian of longevity, published author, Chair of the International Longevity Alliance (ILA), and Chief Science Officer and Chairman of Vetek (Seniority) Association, about why advocacy and ecosystem-building may be just as important as the science itself.Dr Stambler shares how the ILA has grown into a global network connecting 76 nonprofits across 66 countries, organising international conferences, and running the annual Longevity Day (1st October) and Longevity Month (October) campaigns. He points to concrete wins, including efforts to support the inclusion of ageing-related conditions in the ICD and the WHO's work programme.The conversation gets honest about the real barriers to progress. Dr Stambler argues the problem isn't convincing governments that ageing matters, it's getting them to treat it with urgency. Despite ageing representing one of the largest disease burdens globally, it remains chronically underfunded and deprioritised, in part because the research timelines required don't fit neatly into political cycles.He also reflects on the deeper intellectual questions underpinning the field: how to balance holism and reductionism, why historical perspective is essential for longevity researchers, and how the same patterns of enthusiasm, scepticism, and neglect have repeated across centuries of rejuvenation science.Looking ahead to 2030, Dr Stambler highlights the need for better public education, evidence-based criteria for evaluating interventions, and growing grassroots motivation, because ultimately, he believes, a longer and healthier life begins with wanting one.In This Episode:How the ILA operates across 66 countries and what it's achievedWhy governments acknowledge ageing but still fail to act on itThe long funding timelines longevity research demands — and why that's a political problemWhich countries are currently leading on longevity policyWhy solo science isn't enough and advocacy changes outcomesThe "Death Valley of ideas" and how to get research across itBalancing holism and reductionism in longevity scienceWhy the history of rejuvenation science keeps repeating itselfWhat meaningful success in this field actually looks like.Ilia Stambler, PhDChairman and CSO. Vetek (Seniority) Association – The Movement for Longevity and Quality of Life, Israel http://www.longevityisrael.org/Chairman. International Longevity Alliance (ILA) http://www.longevityalliance.org/Fellow. Department of Science, Technology and Society, Bar-Ilan University, Israel https://sts.biu.ac.il/Author. A History of Life-Extensionism in the Twentieth Century; Longevity Promotion: Multidisciplinary Perspectives; Healthy Longevity: Policies and Practices http://longevityhistory.comhttps://www.longevityhistory.com/about-the-author/00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro01:28 Staler Background and Mission03:18 What the ILA Does04:04 Key Wins and Campaigns05:25 Public Misconceptions07:27 Getting Governments to Act09:14 Funding Research Long Term10:49 Education and Conferences12:05 Which Countries Lead15:22 Why Advocacy Beats Solo Science17:38 Advocacy Success Stories20:48 Breaking Longevity Silos21:23 Holism vs Reductionism22:28 Why History Matters24:17 Death Valley of Ideas25:49 Rejuvenation Patterns Repeat27:42 Misunderstood Longevity History29:22 Balance and Modesty31:23 Measuring Real Success34:59 Making Longevity Policy36:09 Rapid Fire Takeaways38:58 Final Wrap Up

In this episode, Daphna sits down with Elio, co-founder of LongevAI, a platform using artificial intelligence to help longevity clinics analyse biomarker data, streamline documentation, and build personalised client plans.With a background in computer science and a lifelong passion for health optimisation, Elio offers a grounded, honest perspective on what AI in longevity medicine can do today, and where the limits still lie.______________What We Cover• How LongevAI was founded and what problem it solves for longevity clinics• What it means to automate clinical documentation without removing the clinician from the process• How AI interprets biomarker data, and why speed and accuracy both play a role• The hallucination problem: what it is, why it happens, and how it is being managed• Data privacy, GDPR compliance, and anonymisation in clinical AI tools• The importance of human oversight, why the clinician must always approve before anything reaches the client• How AI and clinicians can learn from each other in a feedback loop• Wearable integration and the role of continuous vs snapshot data• Where AI in longevity is heading in two to five years, including gene therapy modelling and whole-cell simulation• Why younger people are beginning to engage with longevity, and what still holds them backAbout the GuestElio is the co-founder of LongevAI, a software platform built for longevity clinics. He holds a double bachelor's degree in Computer Science and Information Science, and has been focused on health optimisation and AI since his teens. He co-founded LongevAI in December 2024 alongside Cosmina Druica, whom he met through a longevity meetup community in the Netherlands.🔗 longevai.comEnjoyed this episode? Please subscribe, leave a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify, and share with anyone curious about the future of longevity medicine.Beyond Longevity is hosted by Daphna Stern · beyond-longevity.co.ukIn this episode:00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro01:52 Elio Background and Origins04:01 What Lev AI Does05:06 Automating Clinic Workflows07:52 Speed vs Accuracy11:45 Oversight and Patient Trust12:57 Privacy and GDPR Security13:56 How the Model Improves15:06 Limits Data and Hallucinations21:37 Training and Integrations23:45 Personal Biomarker Walkthrough28:34 Explaining LLMs to non-tech people33:38 Future of AI and Longevity35:32 Young People and Longevity39:56 Rapid Fire Questions43:45 Wrap Up and Key Takeaways

Dr Bradley Elliott — physiologist, university lecturer, and a trustee and Communications Lead at the British Society for Research on Ageing — joins host Daphna for a refreshingly honest conversation about what longevity science actually knows and what we still cannot explain.This episode cuts through the certainty. We talk about biomarkers and biological age, why many measurements may be tracking effects rather than causes, we discuss extracellular vesicles and the surprising limit of science. Dr Bradley discusses some of his papers and related research, and our conversation challenges much of the conventional wisdom in the longevity space.What we cover:-Why we still do not know what fundamentally causes ageing — and why every “root cause” often leads to something deeper-What biomarkers really measure, what they can and cannot tell you, and which markers are most worth tracking right now-Biological age vs chronological age: where the concept is useful, and where it gets overclaimed-Why muscle is one of the most underrated “health organs” in ageing — and what it supports beyond strength-Exercise for longevity: the evidence-based basics, plus what matters most for consistency and adherence-“It is not too late”: what studies in very old adults suggest about strength gains later in life-Extracellular vesicles: the hidden communication system between cells, and why it is getting so much attention-Wearables: why they can still be useful even when the numbers are not perfectly accurateThis is a fascinating episode with someone who knows how to communicate science and make it relatableLinks to Dr Bradley Elliot:- https://www.westminster.ac.uk/about-us/our-people/directory/elliott-bradley- https://bsra.org.uk/bradley-elliott-2/- https://www.bradelliott.online/Papers & Research Referenced• Perri et al. (2025) — Delphi review identifying 14 biomarkers of ageing for use in human research (co-authored by Dr Elliott)' https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39708300/• Lady V Barrios-Silva et al. — Activin subfamily peptides and prediction of age and physical function (undergraduate-led research, University of Westminster)https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/30178598/• Dr Yvoni Kyriakidou (PhD) — Exercise-induced muscle damage in young and old men; extracellular vesicle characterisation post-exercisehttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34650440/• Dr Niharika Duggal (University of Birmingham) — Masters athletes and immune function; older athletes vs. age-matched non-athleteshttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29517845/• Stephen Harridge (King's College London) — Resistance training in 90+ year olds; gains in muscle strength and mass in the oldest oldhttps://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/10398199/• Science paper on genetic contribution to longevity — updated estimate shifting genetic contribution to ~50% (noted with editorial by Dr Elliott)https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/science.adz1187https://theconversation.com/what-new-twins-study-reveals-about-genes-environment-and-longevity-274763https://www.ukbiobank.ac.uk/If you enjoyed this episode, we'd love it if you took 60 seconds to leave us a review on Apple Podcasts or Spotify. It genuinely helps more people find the show and means we can keep bringing you honest, science-backed conversations like this one. Thank youhttps://beyond-longevity.co.uk/Chapters:00:00 Why We Age01:52 Meet Bradley Elliot03:07 From Sports Science05:32 Defining Ageing07:03 Mechanisms And Theories09:29 Biomarkers Explained13:02 Delphi Biomarker List16:59 Myostatin Study Story21:25 Actionable Biomarkers26:07 Wearables And Accuracy27:38 Endocrine Fingerprints30:11 Muscle And Healthy Ageing33:21 Athletes And Immunity34:26 Muscle Mass And Healthspan36:36 Exercise Dose Guidelines39:42 Resistance Training Plateau40:42 Lifestyle Versus Genetics42:42 Muscle Damage Study44:44 Extracellular Vesicles Explained46:49 Young Blood Controversy50:08 Dream Research With Omics56:55 What People Misjudge58:43 It’s Never Too Late01:02:41 Rapid Fire And Wrap01:04:31 Final Takeaways

In this episode, I sit down with Dr Brendan Khong, a London-based aesthetic physician and regenerative medicine advocate, for a practical conversation about what it really means to age well, starting with the skin, but quickly expanding into whole-body biology.The central theme is a shift now reshaping aesthetic medicine: moving away from surface-level fixes and toward addressing the underlying drivers of visible ageing. A key driver, Dr Brendan explains, is inflammaging, a chronic, low-grade inflammation that builds over time and accelerates both skin ageing and broader physiological decline.He breaks down why some conventional aesthetic approaches can backfire, particularly repeated high-heat energy treatments, which may contribute to fibrosis, uneven pigmentation, and a dull, “waxy” skin texture over time. His approach favours smarter, gentler interventions, including an anti-inflammatory 1064nm Nd:YAG laser, targeted resurfacing that can be safer across a wider range of skin types, and calming injectables such as Meso-Wharton (a peptide product derived from Wharton’s jelly) used in practice to support skin quality, texture and fine lines.But this is not just a conversation about devices and injectables. Dr Brendan argues that better results start with better assessment and the need to factor in gut health, supplement use, stress load, and cortisol patterns before reaching for a needle or a laser. He is also candid about timelines: collagen remodelling takes time, and unrealistic expectations are one of the biggest problems in aesthetics.For day-to-day longevity habits that support skin health, he highlights fundamentals that are often overlooked: exercise, stress management, avoiding very hot showers, and finding a retinoid your skin can consistently tolerate. Dr Brendan Khong | London's Most Sought-after Aesthetic DoctorDr Brendan Khong (@drbrendankhong) • Instagram profile 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro02:06 Brandon’s Medical Journey03:36 Skin as an Inflammation Mirror07:19 Supplements and Gut Health10:15 Overtreatment and Inflammaging14:47 Anti-Inflammatory Laser Approach17:39 Regenerative Injectables Peptides21:36 Personalised Protocols and Expectations25:18 Why Glanine Stands Out25:57 Microspheres Not Clumps26:55 Anti-Inflammatory Collagen27:47 Safety Profile Focus28:45 Building Patient Protocols30:25 Longevity Over Quick Fixes32:17 Future Of Aesthetics33:41 Gentler Treatment Philosophy34:49 Quantum Magnetic Resonance36:18 Healthy Beauty Trends37:25 Daily Longevity Skin Tips40:10 Rapid Fire Longevity Qs45:14 Final Takeaways And Wrap

What happens to your financial plan when you live to 100?Most pension systems were built around an ~80-year life expectancy. Much of today’s financial advice still follows a linear life-stage model. And many businesses have not yet reckoned with the fact that both their customers and their workforce are ageing in ways that will reshape everything. In this episode of Beyond Longevity, I am joined by Nadine Esposito, founder of Wellthspan Advisory and a senior risk management professional, to unpack why longer lifespans are not just a medical story — they are a planning and financial one, with major implications for strategy and society. Nadine’s path into longevity came not through medicine, but through risk, ESG, and a deep interest in the health–wealth connection. She introduces the concept of wealthspan planning: moving away from rigid life stages towards a model that accounts for career pivots, caregiving gaps, health shocks and the very real risk of outliving your money and any affordable care options. We coverThe health–wealth connection — why “health is wealth” works both ways and how financial stress and poor health reinforce each other over a longer life What businesses need to wake up to — ageing customer bases are changing consumption patterns across housing, travel, mobility and services The workforce challenge — flexibility, lifelong learning, the rise of the “sandwich generation,” and why simply raising retirement age misses the point Risk in longevity startups — data security, AI-driven health apps, sensitive personal data, and income regulations (including EU AI Act transparency obligations around human–AI interaction) Longevity and inequality — why longer lives may widen the gap without smarte intervention and access Key takeawaysWealthspan planning replaces linear life-stage models with something far more dynamic and realistic The two-way link between health and finances means you cannot plan one without the other Businesses should start with a longevity maturity and gap assessment — and test whether products and services actually work for older customers Investors should ask harder questions about IT security, regulatory readiness and risk management — not only financial fundamentals Health and financial literacy, prevention, and employer/insurer incentives are among the highest-leverage policy priorities LinksLinkedIn (Nadine): https://www.linkedin.com/in/nadine-esposito-b1804415/ Wellthspan Advisory (LinkedIn): https://www.linkedin.com/company/wellthspan-advisory Website: https://www.wellthspanadvisory.com/ Longevity Readiness Diagnostic Tool: https://www.longevityreadinessdiagnostic.com/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nadine.esposito_/ Beyond Longevity is hosted by Daphna. New episodes every Monday. Subscribe and listen at https://beyond-longevity.co.uk/listen Timestamps00:00 Welcome to Beyond Longevity + Why Longer Lives Change Money 01:40 Nadine’s Path: From Risk & ESG to the Longevity Space 03:45 From Biohacking Curiosity to the Pension Reality Check 06:42 Wealthspan Planning: Where Health and Wealth Collide 08:42 De-Risking Longevity: Individuals, Employers, and Startups 11:25 Health Data & Cybersecurity Risks in Longevity Tech 17:54 AI in Health: What Users Should Know Before Sharing Data 21:17 Investor Checklist: Security, Regulation, and Risk Appetite 26:08 Longevity’s Business Impact: Aging Customers, Products, and Cities 30:04 Mobility, Social Connection & the Rising Cost of Aging 30:57 New “Life Events” After Retirement: Property, Divorce & Starting Businesses 32:45 The Aging Workforce: Lifelong Learning, Flex Work & Employee Resilience 34:22 Rethinking Retirement Age: Reskilling, Career Resets & Hiring Barriers 39:25 What Policy Should Change First? Financial + Health Literacy & Prevention 45:26 Will Longevity Widen Inequality? When Wealth Becomes Health 46:50 Personal Playbook: Healthspan Over Lifespan & Building Sustainable Habits 49:03 How Any Business Can Prepare: Longevity Maturity Checks & Accessibility 51:48 Key Takeaways + Rapid-Fire Q&A (Sleep, News, Fasting Myth) 58:09 Final Wrap: Longevity Is a Planning Topic (Money, Work, Risk)

What can a tiny worm tell us about human ageing, and could gut bacteria hold the key to a longer, healthier life?In this episode of Beyond Longevity, we sit down with Professor David Weinkove: Chair of the British Society for Research on Ageing (BSRA), Professor at Durham University, and Co-founder and CSO of Magnitude Biosciences. David's lab uses the short-lived nematode C. elegans to run fast, rigorous experiments looking for interventions that extend healthspan and lifespan, and the results are pointing in some surprising directions.We cover how Prof David moved from physics into experimental molecular biology, how his team discovered that bacterial strains and metabolites can dramatically alter how long worms stay active, and what inhibiting bacterial folate synthesis reveals about the biology of ageing. He also explains how worm movement is a practical proxy for healthspan and why that matters for scaling up research.The conversation gets into the thornier questions, too: when do you need mice, and when might you skip straight to human-relevant models? How do you fund prevention research when the payoff is decades away? And what are the real risks of mandatory folic acid flour fortification, a policy Prof David argues deserves more scrutiny, given potential microbiome effects we don't yet fully understand.Prof David also unpacks what the BSRA does day-to-day: from connecting researchers and lobbying government to running small grants and building bridges with clinicians and industry, and why he thinks the longevity field's biggest enemy isn't scepticism, it's overpromising.Plus, we discover the most extreme longevity idea he's ever come across (involving spare parts — we'll leave it there).Links:https://www.durham.ac.uk/staff/david-weinkove/Home - Magnitude BiosciencesHOME PAGE - BSRAhttps://www.linkedin.com/in/david-weinkove-bab807b In this episode:00:00 Welcome to Beyond Longevity + Meet Prof. David Weinkove02:40 From Physics to Bioscience: Career Origins & Model Organisms04:29 The Breakthrough: How Bacteria (and Folate) Can Extend Worm Lifespan09:12 Measuring Healthspan in C. elegans: Movement, Decline & New Tech10:38 Why C. elegans? Fast Ageing, Whole-Organism Biology & Screening Power12:19 Worms vs Mice: Similarity to Humans, Ethics, Cost & Experimental Variability15:35 Translating Worm Findings to Humans: Microbiome Links, Exercise Paper & Next Steps17:52 Funding the Science: UKRI, MRC vs BBSRC, and the Reality of Grant Constraints20:52 Why Longevity Research Struggles for Support: Messaging, Hype & Prevention28:39 BSRA’s Mission & the Five Pillars: Public Engagement, Advocacy, Fundraising, Translation32:01 Breaking Down Silos: Making Longevity Research Useful (and Public)34:07 Prevention Mindset: Why “Healthier for Longer” Isn’t Instant Gratification36:15 When to Start Interventions: Metformin, Timing, and Trial Design Challenges39:39 Why Magnitude Bioscience Exists: Fast Whole-Organism Ageing Screens41:12 What Companies Test in Worms: From Candidate Drugs to 1,000-Compound Screens42:48 Folic Acid Fortification & the Microbiome: A Potential Unintended Consequence45:55 Should Government Engineer Health? Autonomy, Risk, and Public Policy Trade-offs52:37 Ageing Demographics & the Case for Prevention-First Healthcare Investment55:59 Making Longevity Matter to Everyday People + Rapid-Fire Q&A01:01:47 Final Takeaways, Thanks, and Episode Wrap-Up

What if the conditions we treat in our fifties and sixties which were set in motion decades earlier, would have been spotted, and shifted, far sooner? In this episode of Beyond Longevity, I sit down with Dr Mayoni Gooneratne, Founder and Medical Director of Human Health and Skin Fit Clinics, and Vice President of the British College of Functional Medicine. After years as an NHS colorectal and pelvic floor surgeon treating advanced disease, she made a decisive pivot into functional and preventative medicine with a sharp focus on women’s midlife health. Dr Mayoni is frank about what she sees as the fault lines in modern healthcare: too little time to truly listen, a default toward symptom management over root-cause thinking, and a system designed to meet patients at crisis point rather than upstream. Her own definition of “good medicine” is different: deeper connection, individualised biology, and practical tools that help patients protect their own healthspan. A major thread is perimenopause — why it is still under-recognised in conventional medicine and, surprisingly, even in the longevity conversation. She links this to the long-standing marginalisation of women in medical research, and the real-world consequences that follow. Her solution starts with “body literacy”: tracking patterns, paying attention to symptoms, using health data intelligently, and becoming an active participant in care and not simply waiting for a label. We get into the specifics of her clinical approach: detailed history-taking and questionnaires, then targeted testing to confirm or disprove a hypothesis. She explains how she uses broad blood marker panels, aiming for optimal, not just “normal” ranges, stool testing to assess gut function, and nutrigenomics to understand how someone interacts with their environment. For anyone sceptical about functional medicine’s reputation for over-testing, her line is clear: testing should have a reason and early markers (like homocysteine and methylation issues) are worth catching before they become disease. Her framework comes through in a powerful case study of a woman in her mid-forties post breast cancer treatment. The plan combined structured nutrition changes, Pilates to support bone health, and journaling to work through stored stress and anger, with measurable improvements in sleep and HRV. Practical advice runs throughout: build a simple morning routine, prioritise nourishing food, choose “joyful movement” over punishment, reduce blue light and phone use at night, and rebuild real-world community. She also shares what she believes conventional medicine needs more of: stronger grounding in biochemistry and physiology, better nutrition education, and a far more serious commitment to women’s health. Beyond the clinic, Dr Mayoni is also building infrastructure for the field. Through Human Health Professionals, she trains and mentors clinic owners to deliver longevity and wellness services responsibly. She also leads the Future Patient Congress and publishes Future Patient, quarterly, evidence-based resources magazine, designed to make current research more accessible and usable for clinicians and practitioners. In the rapid-fire round: her single most important longevity adjustment, what she wishes she had known before leaving surgery, and what it really means to extend healthspan - not just lifespan. BCFM College of Functional MedicineHuman Health™ by The Clinic | Functional Medicine in LondonThe Clinic by Dr Mayoni - Integrative Skin Care Clinic in LondonRedefine Healthgevity and Metabolic Wellness | Human Health ProfessionalsFuture-proofing patients’ health - Future Patient 00:00 Welcome to Beyond Longevity + Meet Dr. Mayoni Gooneratne00:45 From NHS Surgery to Prevention: Why Patients Reach Crisis Point06:01 What “Good Medicine” Looks Like: Time, Listening, and Healing Space10:47 Why Perimenopause Is Still Overlooked (and Why It Matters for Longevity)12:36 Body Literacy & Wearables: Turning Symptoms into Useful Data14:47 Gaslighting, Doctor Google, and Empowering Women to Self-Advocate17:39 Longevity Isn’t Just for Biohackers: Women’s Health as a Public Health Priority20:42 Testing in Functional Medicine: History First, Then Blood, Gut & Nutrigenomics24:16 “Too Much Testing?” Early Warning Markers, Methylation, and Going Upstream26:43 Clinical Framework: How to Prioritise Systems When Everything Feels Off29:22 The ‘House’ Analogy: Gut Foundations, Immune Roof, Stress Storms & Routines32:45 Case Study: Post–Breast Cancer Optimisation—Metabolic Health, Protein, and Nervous System Reset36:16 Healing Stored Anger: A Patient’s Nervous System Breakthrough38:49 Perimenopause 101: Recognising the Early Signs & Symptoms39:53 Food, Movement, Sleep: The Core Lifestyle Reset (Without Punishment)42:10 Relationships, Boundaries & Reducing Toxic Inputs45:18 Five Simple Longevity Adjustments: Morning Routine, Nutrition, Phone, Community48:47 What Conventional Medicine Could Change Now (Nutrition + Women’s Health Education)51:23 Why She Left Surgery: The Wake-Up Call on Reactive Healthcare56:09 Building New Systems: Human Health, Future Patient Congress & Magazine57:47 Training Clinicians: N=1 Medicine, Critical Appraisal & Practical Protocols01:06:22 Rapid-Fire Longevity Q&A + Final Takeaways on Healthspan

In this episode of Beyond Longevity, I am joined by Dr Angus Perry, a practising GP, clinical AI builder, and performance-medicine enthusiast with experience supporting Formula One teams and elite athletes. Dr Angus is focused on closing the gap between what preventive medicine can achieve and what is realistic inside a ten-minute GP appointment.He shares the path that led him here: a childhood ambition to become a GP, an early pull toward technology, and a personal family experience with chronic disease that clarified why the current model is failing both clinicians and patients. We talk candidly about GP burnout, time pressure, and why meaningful lifestyle support is so hard to deliver at scale.Two data points frame his urgency:-The Lancet Standing Commission’s 2024 report estimates that around 45% of dementia cases are potentially preventable by addressing 14 modifiable risk factors across the life course.-A 2018 JAMA Network Open cohort study of 122,007 adults undergoing treadmill testing found cardiorespiratory fitness was inversely associated with long-term all-cause mortality, with a median follow-up of 8.4 years and no observed “upper limit” of benefit. Dr Angus then walks through the two-part platform he is building:A clinician-facing tool that helps generate chronic disease and preventive-care plans (including areas such as diabetes, hypertension, and dementia prevention).-A patient-facing app designed around daily check-ins, habit tracking, nudges, milestones, and adherence dashboards — aiming to “close the accountability loop” between appointments giving clinicians the data they need and whilst keeping patients genuinely engaged with their own health in-between appointmentsWe also dig into what responsible clinical AI looks like in practice: hallucination risk, governance, compliance, and the line between augmentation and undermining the clinician–patient relationship. And we explore whether tools used in elite sport (including dynamometry for strength and fatigability) could become more relevant in ageing and sarcopenia care — including for patients using GLP-1 medications. Dr Angus is clear about where things stand today: the app has had a very promising soft launch, clinician feedback driving iteration, early NHS pilot conversations, and outcomes data still being gathered. The episode closes with a sober assessment of where healthcare may be heading without greater patient empowerment — and a reminder that many of the biggest longevity gains are still driven by environment and lifestyle, not expensive interventions.Rapid-fire highlights: why passion beats rigid planning, the single habit he prioritises most (sleep), what he would have done if medicine had not worked out, and why a simple daily gratitude practice can have outsized downstream effects. Links:Dementia prevention, intervention, and care: 2024 report of the Lancet standing CommissionAssociation of Cardiorespiratory Fitness and Mortality Among Adults Undergoing Exercise Treadmill TestingGeneralPractice.AI | HealthcareDr. Angus Perry - PAP - Pioneered Athlete Performancehttps://uk.linkedin.com/in/dr-angus-perry-b49918128In this episode:00:00 — Welcome + introducing Dr Angus Perry, GP and clinical AI builder01:39 — Origin story: why general practice, early tech roots, and high-performance medicine03:26 — Why standard GP wasn't enough: chronic disease, system limits, and burnout05:12 — The personal wake-up call: family experience and lifestyle-driven disease08:55 — From experiments to product: early LLM tools and the lifestyle research that changed everything10:52 — The evidence for prevention: dementia risk, fitness and mortality13:12 — Introducing the platform: clinician tool and patient app for behaviour change14:07 — Patient activation and empowerment: making people the CEO of their own health15:57 — How the app works: risk factors, activation scoring, check-ins, and accountability loops 19:26 — Early launch feedback, adoption questions, and the road to NHS pilots21:05 — What's next: AI agents, EHR integration, and removing workflow friction22:56 — Clinician concerns about AI: augmentation vs replacement, and can AI extend healthspan? 25:08 — ChatGPT for health: useful, but the doctor–patient bond still matters26:03 — What responsible AI means in healthcare: governance, risk, and regulation27:38 — Does technology change how he practises as a GP?28:20 — From Formula One to primary care: treating patients like elite athletes31:40 — Performance technology that could reach clinics: muscle testing and the realities of G-force data33:25 — Dynamometry explained: measuring strength, imbalances, and fatigability35:41 — Why muscle mass is a longevity cornerstone — and how it declines38:01 — Where GP and preventive medicine are headed in five years40:08 — Is longevity medicine only for the wealthy? The 70/15/5 reality43:28 — Rapid-fire advice and final takeaways on making innovation practical

Welcome to Beyond Longevity, the podcast that decodes the future of ageing, one conversation at a time. Join host Daphna Stern as she introduces a new podcast exploring the cutting edge of longevity science. Through conversations with leading researchers, clinicians, and innovators, Beyond Longevity unpacks the evidence behind living longer and healthier lives.Beyond Longevity is a deep-dive podcast exploring the cutting edge of longevity science. Each episode features insightful discussions with leading experts who share their latest findings, innovative studies, and practical applications to enhance our approach to longevity. The show translates complex research into clear, thoughtful discussions, decoding the future of ageing one conversation at a time.Don't miss future episodes! Follow or subscribe to Beyond Longevity on your preferred podcast player:Join us in advancing the conversation around ageing. Let's redefine what it means to live longer, healthier00:00 Welcome to Beyond Longevity: A Podcast About Healthspan00:13 Beauty in Science: Why Longevity Research Matters Now00:27 Meet Your Host Daphna Stern & the Mission Behind the Show00:55 Where Biology Meets Technology: Inside the Longevity Revolution01:05 Who We Talk To: Pioneers Rewriting What It Means to Age01:20 From Sci‑Fi to Boom Times: Longevity Goes Mainstream01:46 Subscribe & Join the Movement: Redefining Longer, Healthier Lives02:00 Final Invitation: Understanding the Future, One Conversation at a Timecb448dac319f1856057ff99a3ebc0166eb850b84KiDzUEabRNT1ahgeV5Ej