Healthy Longevity 101

LF76 | A quick guide to who's who in the zoo of aging, longevity and healthspan

MidJourney prompt: A confused young person in a colorful zoo.

I had a call yesterday with a business school classmate who’s interested in healthy aging and longevity and asked for some resources to get up to speed. There’s so much noise, silos, sub-silos and competing agendas it’s hard to know where to start. She noted that as a strategy consultant she knew people in most industries, but was mystified and unconnected with the healthy aging space.

As I was jotting down some notes - and kept going on and on - I thought others might be asking similar questions. So I put down a non-definitive, loosely structured list of organizations, individuals and resources (e.g. books, podcasts) who are top of mind / my rolodex as I’ve been exploring the space for a few years. As such, in terms of scope, this grop focuses on technology and innovation in aging and longevity, but doesn’t dive into longevity biotech.

In the age of Google you won’t need the links, but let me know if you need any clarifications. Would start by focusing on these three to get the basics around healthy longevity as a starting point.

• Peter Attia. Podcast and author of NYT bestseller, Outlive book. No-nonsense, McKinsey trained MD, with a successful podcast, magnum opus book and minor-celebrity status, eg as longevity doc to Chris Hemsworth and Hugh Jackman. Runs a high end concierge clinic, and is developing a B2C offering.

• Andrew Huberman. Stanford prof with a popular podcast and an ability to turn selfcare into a macho, gadget-rich obsession for many. The source of the term Huberman Husband. Helped popularize ‘non-sleep deep rest’ and cold plunges.

• David Sinclair. Australian Harvard-based researcher whose LifeSpan book and podcast does a good job of providing a biological overview of aging and practical suggestions. Emphasizes fasting and stressing the bodily, healthily (e.g cold).

Would also add an honorable mention to Mark Hyman, a holistic doc (naturally with a podcast) who’s just set up a B2C company, Function Health, which I’ve found impressive. Also, Rhonda Patrick from FoundMyFitness is full of practical detail, and has done a deep dive into the health benefits of saunas recently.

Here’s a group of other links and resources, mostly focused on the US, that I’ll add to as interesting examples jump out.

• Preventive health

  • Lots of interesting companies emerging around prevention, mostly focused on premium consumer products. Prenuvo, Ezra and doing full body scans, something that Spotify founder is taking to the next level with Neko Health out of Sweden.

  • Other companies of note include: Fount.bio does coaching for longevity and Inside Tracker and Rupa Health focusing on tests.

• Longevity research

  • George Church, Harvard

  • Aubrey de Grey, SENS

  • Matt Kaeberlein, Uni of Washington / Dog Aging Project

  • Celine Halioua, Loyal

  • Sergey Young, Longevity Vision Fund

  • [For longevity biotech, you could start with Altos Labs, Juvenescence, Insilico Labs, Human Longevity Inc]

• Biohackers

  • Bryan Johnson - Blueprint

  • Peter Diamandis & Tony Robbins - Lifeforce

  • Dave Asprey - founder of Bulletproof Coffee

  • Supplements: Elysium Health, Novos Labs

• Agetech & startups

  • Abby Levy, Primetime Partners

  • Sarah Thomas, Delight By Design & AgeTech Capital

  • Jon Warner, Silver Moonshots + many hats

  • Julie Wroblewski, Magnify Ventures

  • Keren Etken, Gerontechnologist

  • Max Zamkow, Third Act Ventures

  • Scott Collins, LinkAge

  • Stephen Liu, A2 Collective

  • Daniel Kaplan, Generator Ventures

  • Accelerators & incubators: CABHI programs, TechStars Future of Longevity Accelerator, AARP Birdhouse (Belgium/EU), LinkAge Launch, Silver Moonshots

• Work, Thriving & Purpose

  • Chip Conley, Modern Elder Academy

  • Mark Freedman, Co-Generate

  • Susan Golden, Stanford - Stage Not Age

  • Colin Milner, Active Ageing

  • Bradley Schurman, The Super Age

  • Julia Randall-Khan, Purpose Exchange

  • Tina Woods, Collider Health

  • Rachel Slattery, Silver Futures

• Longevity & Demographic change - academic / research

  • Laura Carstensen, Stanford Center on Longevity

  • Joe Coughlin, MIT - Longevity Economy

  • Andrew Scott & Lynda Gratton - 100 Year Life

  • Alexandre Kalache, International Longevity Center

  • Buck Institute on Aging

• Longevity & the economy - applied

  • Dan Buettner, Blue Zones

  • Milken Institute

  • AARP

  • Brian O’Connor, European Connected Health Alliance

  • Harris Eyre, Brain Capital

  • David Sinclair, International Longevity Center, UK

  • National Innovation Center for Ageing, UK - Nicola Palmarini, Newcastle, UK

  • Eric Kihlstrom, Aging2.0

  • Design Age Institute, London

  • Global Center for Modern Ageing, Julianne Parkinson, Adelaide

  • Center for Healthy Longevity, NUS, Singapore - Brian Kennedy

  • Haleh Nazeri, World Economic Forum

  • Ira Sobel, Fintech for Longevity

  • SCAN Foundation

• Aged care / assisted living, long-term care

  • Bill Thomas, Green House

  • Jennie Chin Hansen, PACE

  • Senior housing of note: Juniper Communities, Human Good, Front Porch, Mather, Transforming Age, Silverado, Benchmark Senior Living

  • Scott Peifer, Institute for Strategy & Leadership

  • Tom Briody - Institute on Aging

  • June Burgess, Butterly Household Model

  • George Margelis, Aged Care Industry Information Technology Council

• Care & caregiving

  • Buurtzorg

  • Ai-Jen Poo

  • Rosalyn Carter Institute

• Commentators, Convenings & Communities

  • Mary Furlong / Boomer Ventures Summit

  • Milken Institute

  • Longevity Insider

  • Longevity.Technology

  • Aging2.0

  • Neo Life

  • Lori Orlov

  • HLTH & Vive

  • Kenes Independent Ageing, Japan

  • Health Tech Nerds

That’s an initial dump, have definitely missed some of the good ones - feel free to add comments putting me right. There’s a list 100x this long of startups that am tracking - that’ll be for another post. For now, AgeTech News does a good job of listing startups and curating developments in the space.