It is 6:00 AM in Eze, a small village in the hills above the French Riviera. A few days after the longevitydocs Cannes Summit, and I am sitting with coffee, looking at the sea, trying to find the right words.
Here is what keeps coming back: grateful, privileged, responsible, proud, nostalgic, inspired.
Looking at this coastline, I keep thinking about a story. A hundred years ago, the French Riviera in summer was empty. Hotels closed in May. No festival or beach clubs. Then an American couple, Gerald and Sara Murphy, convinced the Hotel du Cap in Antibes to stay open, cleared the seaweed off the beach, and invited Picasso for lunch. He came in a black Stetson and bathing trunks. Fitzgerald followed. Cocteau, Léger, Stravinsky, Man Ray. Within a few years, the Riviera became the center of the creative world, and summer on the Mediterranean became the standard it still is today.
One family stayed when no one else would. They built something where nothing existed. And everyone followed.
That is what we are doing in Cannes with longevity medicine.
Physicians from 30 countries flew in to build this field together. People who could have been anywhere chose to be here. That is not something you forget.
Many of the 1,000+ doctors in our community could not make it. So I wanted to share the highlights with you, and what comes next.
Dr. David Luu, Founder, longevity docs.™
What you missed in Cannes
We started the way the Murphys started: by showing up and inviting everyone to the table. The White Party on the deck of the Majestic, mocktails on the water, then dinner at the Palm Beach. Everyone in white. A celebration of community, and a reminder of what we stand for: pure, ethical, united by one mission.
Morning Rituals
Then we ran. The next morning was the first-ever longevitydocs Run Club along La Croisette. Zone 2 pace, so people could actually talk while they ran. On day two, movement, yoga pose, and breath work on the sand.
The Summit
Then the Summit opened at the Palais des Festivals. Thomas de Pariente, Deputy Mayor of Cannes, linked urban lifestyle to longevity and made the case for Cannes as a longevity city. A hundred years after the Murphys put this coastline on the map for art, a deputy mayor is now pitching it as the home of longevity medicine. The field has already won the argument.
Nir Barzilai, President of the Academy of Geroscience, opened with the new biomarkers and the work ahead to standardize the field. He shared a number worth sitting with: centenarians incur roughly one-third the medical cost of everyone else in their final two years of life.
The Graduation
Then the graduation of the world’s first ever Certified Longevity Doctors (CLD). The Gala at the Carlton Hotel was the heart of it. 25 new CLDs crossed the stage, with a commencement address by Dr. Nir Barzilai, honored by Dr. Giovanni Campanile, Dr. Cynthia Keller, Dr. Melissa Loseke, and Dr. Saranya Wyles. The Murphys cleared a beach. We are clearing a path for a new generation of physicians.
The longevitydocs Awards
- Dr. Ami Bhatt, Chief Innovation Officer of the American College of Cardiology, received the Impact Award.
- Dr. Nir Barzilai received the Legacy Award, presented by Ingrid Ansellem, Brand General Manager, L’Oréal Paris France.
- Dr. Sunita Mishra, Chief Medical Officer of Neko Health, received the Innovation Award, presented by Professor Zahi Fayad, Mount Sinai School of Medicine.
- Dr. Jessica Shepherd received the longevitydocs Doctor of the Year Award, presented by Brenna Stone, L’Oréal Paris.
- Dr. Steven Murphy received the Community Leadership Award with a standing ovation from the audience.
Originally published in The Longevity Medicine Intelligence newsletter (#97).
