WATCH: Dr. Alexander Fleming’s Evening Lecture on geroscience and healthy longevity

People are living longer, but those longer years are often marred by multiple chronic diseases — and the exploding cost of managing those conditions — in the final and least productive years of life.  

In the first IHMC Evening Lecture of 2023, Dr. Alexander Fleming talked about efforts to understand how we can extend our productive, healthy years — a concept he calls healthy longevity. If you couldn’t be with us in person, you can still learn from Dr. Fleming with our video recap. Watch it here. 

Fleming is a former head of clinical review at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for products for diabetes and other metabolic and endocrine disorders. His notable drug approvals at FDA included the first statin and metformin. He represented the FDA at the World Health Organization and other international initiatives.  

He founded Kinexum, a company with expertise in developing drugs, biotech products, including gene and cell therapies, medical devices, and digital health technologies.  

In 2020, he founded the not-for-profit Kitalys Institute to facilitate testing, regulation, and commercialization of healthspan products. Kitalys produces the annual Metabesity conference, which began in 2017 and brings together global experts, policymakers, and advocates for equaling healthspan to lifespan.   

In his IHMC lecture, Fleming touched on geroscience, a discipline that looks to understand the biological roots causes of aging and disease in order to target and treat those. It’s a focus that could improve our own lives and reduce the financial and societal burden of unhealthy aging. 

As we wait for the fruits of some promising science, supported by successful results in higher animals, Fleming noted that the standby advice of physical activity, lifestyle, and diet still apply.