Beyond the biohack: Why foundational research matters more than viral advice

In a world where “health advice” travels faster than evidence, we’re surrounded by confident claims—from miracle supplements to “scrambled” mitochondria. But aging is not a trend. There is no magic bullet. Aging is complex, personal, and shaped by many interacting systems. Understanding it requires the kind of collaborative, interdisciplinary science that few institutions can truly deliver. 

Keynote speaker Jan Karlseder, PhD, will convince you that the future of healthy aging depends on foundational research—science that asks the questions others aren’t asking, that is high-risk, high-reward, and requires investment long before payoffs are visible. He will argue what it takes to lead this critical effort: a culture of bringing experts in different scientific disciplines together into “think tanks” that address global challenges together and leading-edge tools that accelerate discovery across the molecular-to-organismal spectrum. 

With global life expectancy rising and the number of people over 60 expected to double by 2050, the urgent question is no longer how long we live, but how long we live well. Karlseder will guide audiences through the breakthroughs that will redefine medicine—how inflammation and mitochondria shape aging, how our internal clocks influence long-term health, and why stem cells lose regenerative power (and how we might restore it). 

He will also leave you with optimism and agency: social connection matters, and lifestyle choices like diet can help, but real progress comes from science that separates hope from hype. This is a keynote for those who understand how discovery works and who want to learn from the brilliant individuals building the future. Because healthy aging can’t wait.