Hey Doc,

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, longevitydocs.™

Longevity medicine is moving fast. Each week, I try to explore one idea that could advance longevity medicine and hopefully support physicians in bringing it to life. For my full perspective subscribe and read this week's longevity intelligence

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.

Then we ran. The next morning was the 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.

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 Certified Longevity Doctors (CLD).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™ 2026 Awards

Impact Award: Dr. Ami Bhatt, Chief Innovation Officer of the American College of Cardiology

Legacy Award: Dr. Nir Barzilai, presented by Ingrid Ansellem, Brand General Manager, L'Oréal Paris France

Innovation Award: Dr. Sunita Mishra, Chief Medical Officer of Neko Health, presented by Professor Zahi Fayad, Mount Sinai School of Medicine

Doctor of the Year Award: Dr. Jessica Shepherd, presented by Brenna Stone, L'Oréal Paris

Community Leadership Award: Dr. Steven Murphy, presented with a standing ovation from the audience

What every doctor can take home for Monday morning

The Murphys did not just throw parties. They created the conditions for an entire movement. Every person who showed up on that beach carried something home and built on it. Here are the 10 learnings you carry home from Cannes.

1. It takes one physician to change a patient's life. Every longevity doctor is that physician. Lead with ethics and compassion. The way you see your patient can change their trajectory. You make the call.

2. Small rooms build the partnerships that last. The Murphys did not host conferences. They hosted dinners. Community beats scale. We gather to build the infrastructure the field needs to move forward.

3. Longevity medicine is just born. Legitimize first, then standardize, then democratize. We are still in phase one. That is the exciting part. The Murphys arrived when the beach was empty. So did we.

4. Your personal brand is a clinical trust factor. Patients choose the physician before the protocol. Build it with intention.

5. The CBC may be the most underrated panel you order. Learn to read it as a longevity tool, not a checkbox. RDW and the neutrophil-to-lymphocyte ratio track biological age and mortality risk.

6. Use the safety you already have. The best-evidenced gerotherapeutics are repurposed and FDA-approved: GLP-1s, SGLT-2 inhibitors, metformin, bisphosphonates. Known safety beats a shelf of supplements/peptides with high hype and thin evidence.

7. The ecosystem is ready, cities included. When a deputy mayor pitches you on longevity, you are no longer clearing seaweed. The beach is open.

8. Real-world evidence will make longevity medicine the standard of care. Outcomes matter more than mechanisms, and this community is built to generate them.

9. Ambient longevity is already here. The watch, the ring, the home, the sensor are becoming the clinic. The physician who learns to read that data leads. The one who ignores it gets routed around.

10. Most patients are not looking for a fancy protocol. They are looking for a hand on their shoulder.