Beyond Supplements with Alan Graves on Funding Clinical Trials and Longevity Research

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.org 00:00 Welcome and Guest Intro 02:52 Alan’s Unlikely Origin Story 04:34 From Self-Experiment to Do Not Age 06:45 Funding Gap and New Model 08:12 Democratising Longevity Science 09:48 Research Company Not Supplements 11:09 Why Clinical Trials Take Years 12:50 How Do Not Age Is Structured 15:09 Supporting Labs Worldwide 18:01 Supplement Industry Credibility Crisis 21:01 How Consumers Verify Claims 22:42 Stepping Down as CEO 25:11 Choosing Which Research to Fund 26:45 Upcoming Trials and What’s Next 28:10 Basics Before Supplements 31:43 Testing and Biological Age 33:24 The One-a-Day Sachet Idea 36:03 Clinical Trials Pipeline 36:55 Making Longevity Affordable 39:58 Pricing Ethics and Dosage 41:33 Hype vs Evidence in Longevity 44:51 Who Needs Supplements When 46:55 Free Unbiased Science Conference 53:02 What Excites Him Next 54:08 SIRT6 Activator Deep Dive 58:30 Why Healthcare Won’t Adopt It 01:01:44 Boxing, Balance, and Ageing Goals 01:04:41 Rapid Fire and Wrap Up 01:07:15 Host Takeaways and Conclusion