There are numerous claims about what supports longevity and healthspan, and it can be difficult to discern what is real from what is hype in this overheated field.
That is why we’ve made The Science and Practice of Healthy Aging the theme of the 2nd annual Nutrition & Supplementation in Clinical Care (NSCC) Conference, which will take place from January 29-February 1, 2026, at the Westin Resort in Carlsbad, CA.
Together with my conference co-directors Shaista Malik, MD, PhD, MPH, founding executive director of the UC Irvine Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute, and Mimi Guarneri, MD, FACC, ABIHM, medical director of the Guarneri Integrative Health, we are are bringing together leading experts in nutrition, wellness, and technology to take a close and critical look at what really works in the context of longevity medicine.
“As clinicians, we’re constantly navigating an overwhelming mix of new claims and emerging science around longevity. Our goal with this year’s conference is to provide practical, science-based strategies that can be applied to real-world care,” says Dr. Malik.
The conference, sponsored by the UC Irvine Susan Samueli Integrative Health Institute, will explore a wide array of clinically relevant and up to the minute topics, including:
Artificial Intelligence & Wearables: AI is of the most widely-utilized but misunderstood tools in the realm of longevity. People are turning to AI chatbots for guidance on an astonishing range of health concerns. But are they getting accurate information? Are these AI systems truly helpful? What are the risks associated with reliance on AI-generated medical guidance.
Our keynote speaker, Nathan Price, PhD, of the Buck Institute for Research on Aging, will be taking on these daunting yet fascinating questions. During his talk on Nutrition, AI & the Promise of Longevity, Dr. Price will provide pearls on how AI can be safely and effectively leveraged for nutrition and health-related queries.
Similarly, wearables are incredibly popular but often have a short lifespan. Physician and technology expert Michael Kurisu, DO, founder of Measured Wellness, hopes to provide some guidance in his talk, The Role of Wearables for Monitoring Nutrition & Lifestyle Medicine.
“Wearables are a compass for healthy aging—pointing to what works, and tuning out the noise. But these devices shouldn’t take over your life. I want the audience to understand simple ways to train them to deliver the right information at the right time—less stress, more clarity,” Dr. Kurisu says. “Where wearables truly shine is focus: they point you to what matters most for healthy aging—often the surprise you wouldn’t see without data.”
Metabolism, Hormones, & Cellular Health: There’s no question that the GLP-1 agonist drugs have radically changed both the clinical management of overweight, and the public’s expectations of weight loss treatments. For some patients these drugs are truly life-changing. But good nutritional support is essential for optimal outcomes. Ashley Koff, RD, author of the forthcoming book, Your Best Shot, will be discussing Nutritional Considerations in the GLP-1 Era. Koff notes, “Our bodies make weight-health hormones, and just like everything else, their function is challenged as we age. While there is no “Nature’s Ozempic,” there are a lot of supplements that complement food and lifestyle choices to help optimize weight health.”
“Mitochondrial health” is a very hot concept among longevity-minded people these days. Supplement makers are pitching a wide array of products that purport to support mitochondrial function. To make sense of it all, we’ve got the humorous and lively Bob Rountree, MD on the program. In his talk, “Mitochondrial Dysfunction: Who is at Risk & How to Help,” Dr. Rountree will provide an essential update on how to evaluate mitochondrial health, and where to start in applying nutritional approaches to optimize mitochondrial metabolism.
To address hormonal aspects of metabolism in women, Deanna Minich, PhD, will be discussing Integrative (Peri) Menopause Support: Alternatives & Adjuncts to Hormone Therapy. “I want the audience to recognize that targeted nutrition, botanicals, and lifestyle strategies can ease menopausal symptoms while also addressing long-term health outcomes of aging,” says Dr. Minich. She hopes that“clinicians will see that integrative, evidence-based approaches can support women in perimenopause and beyond, offering effective options alongside or in place of hormone therapy.”
“Beyond hormone replacement, true integrative care for perimenopause means addressing the foundations that shape hormone balance, including gut and adrenal health, thyroid function, brain resilience, stress response, metabolism, and detoxification, which are all essential for healthy aging.”
Herbal Medicine for Mental Health & Sleep: Two of the most overlooked aspects of healthy aging are mental wellness and sleep. The renowned speaker and physician herbalist Tieraona Low Dog, MD, founding director of the Integrative & Functional Medicine Fellowship at the Samueli Institute, will provide practical and inspiring tools during her talk, Herbal Allies in Mental Health. This will be a follow-up to a hands-on herbal workshop by David Kiefer, MD, Medical Director, Integrative Health Clinic at UW Health, who notes, “Across the planet, botanical medicines have been and continue to be part of a foundation of health throughout the lifespan. Botanical medicines can play a role in promoting healthy aging, through such mechanisms as decreasing inflammation, and promoting better sleep and digestion.”
Speaking of sleep, David C. Leopold, MD, of the Hackensack Meridian Integrative Health & Medicine, will provide an overview on Sleep Optimization: The Role of Nutrition & Supplementation. “My goal is for participants to see that even small improvements in sleep can have a powerful impact on energy, cognition, and vitality. I hope attendees walk away understanding that prioritizing restorative sleep is not optional—it’s essential to our ability to thrive as we age.”
Further supporting the role of herbal and traditional medicine will be herbal expert Mark Blumenthal, founder and executive director of the American Botanical Council, who will discuss herbal quality assurance in his talk, The Hidden Risk: Botanical Adulteration & What Clinicians Need to Know.
We will also host an Ayurvedic Medicine panel with Sheila Patel, MD, Melanie Fiorella, MD, and Megan Jolicoeur, DO. Together, these experts will explore the role of Ayurvedic practices in healthy aging and beyond.
Cancer & Heart Awareness: Two of the biggest threats to healthy aging are heart disease and cancer. In his talk, Integrative Oncology: The Role of Nutrition, integrative oncologist Gary Deng, MD, PhD, director of the integrative oncology program at the Samueli Institute and UCI Health Chao Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, will speak on how to optimize nutrition in the prevention, treatment, and survivorship stages of cancer.
Cardiologist Doug Triffon, MD, medical director of the Lipid Clinic at the Scripps Center for Integrative Medicine, will help us demystify lipids and review key therapeutic strategies in his talk, Hyperlipidemia: Nutrition & Supplement Options. Additionally, Dr. Mimi Guarneri will bring her decades of cardiovascular experience to an exploration of the connection between Heart Health and Planetary Health.
Long-Covid & Pain: Chronic disease and chronic pain often go together. All too often, they circumvent even the possibility of healthy aging. In recent years, long COVID has become a serious chronic concern for many people. There’s much we can do to support people dealing with—or simply fearing—long COVID. To review the science, we’ll have Carla Kuon, MD, an integrative physician at UCSF Health, speaking on Long-COVID: The Role of Nutrition. “The audience will learn that targeted nutrition and supplements are synergistic in accelerating recovery from long-COVID and can be protective against getting long-COVID if used as prevention.”
Additionally, Dr. Kuon will review vagal stimulation and mind-body techniques which can enhance recovery.
Chronic pain is rampant these days, and many of our patients are caught in a vicious spiral of worsening pain. In our talks Evidence-Based Approaches to Neuropathy and Supplements & Nutrition in Transforming Chronic Pain, Ryan McNally, ND, a naturopath at the Samueli Institute, and I will discuss effective real-world treatments and practices that give meaningful relief. We will provide practical, nutritional approaches to reduce pain and improve function.
Healthy Aging Starts Early: Lillian Au, ND, and Karen Lindsay, PhD, RDN, both at the Samueli Institute, want the world to know that it’s never too early to start thinking about healthy aging. In their shared presentation, Neurodevelopmental Programming in the First 1,000 Days: Nutrition & Supplement Interventions from Pregnancy to Early Childhood, they will look at the myriad ways in which early childhood health status affects the aging process later in life.
Trusting and Translating the Science: With the continued and rapid proliferation of AI, social media, and digital communication, we are all—practitioners and patients alike—inundated with information about nutrition and healthy lifestyle. New, supposedly “groundbreaking” findings are hitting our screens every day. Unfortunately, there’s also a proliferation of fraudulent research out there.
How do we know if new findings are truly valid and worthy of our time and attention? And how do we translate the meaningful new scientific developments into messages that will effectively motivate our patients?
To help answer these challenging questions, we’ve got Mary Hardy, MD, an integrative physician and botanical specialist, and Joe Betz, PhD, former Acting Director of the NIH Office of Dietary Supplements. Together, Hardy and Betz will review steps for evaluating the latest nutrition research, and discerning the helpful from the hype-ful.
This will be paralleled by a talk from nutritionist Victoria Yunez Behm, MS, CNS on Translational Nutrition Research for Clinical Practice & Behavior Change. “Nutrition research can be difficult to decipher and even harder to translate into practical, sustainable habits. Equally important as the guidance we provide is our ability to foster trust, motivate behavior change, and help clients move toward shared goals. This is especially critical in healthy aging, where long-term adherence determines whether the promise of research becomes real-world benefit.”
I hope you will join us in January, either in person or virtually, for a truly practice-changing conference. To learn more and register, visit the conference website here.
Use the special discount code HPC15 at checkout and receive 15% off.
