28 Feb Skin Longevity Science: Key Lessons from the NUS Geromedicine Conference 2026
Interest in longevity and healthspan has grown tremendously in recent years. People are no longer asking only how long they will live, but how well they can live for longer. In my clinic in Singapore, I am also seeing a similar pattern of growing interest in skin health and skin longevity among patients. Years ago, conversations in the clinic mostly centered around correcting signs of ageing that have developed, such as wrinkles, sagging and volume loss. Today, the conversations in my clinic have evolved, with questions about skinspan and improving the biological functions of the skin, akin to the common longevity topics of healthspan and interventions to delay the body’s biological aging processes.
I find this shift to be interesting, clinically, and intellectually. Afterall, the skin is part of our body and ageing skin is a manifestation of systemic biological ageing processes. The science of longevity and the science of skin longevity also overlap in many aspects. For personal interest and learning, I attended the NUS Geromedicine: Unlock Healthy Longevity Conference 2026 to learn from the researchers, strategists and policymakers who are shaping this field.
I attended the NUS Geromedicine Conference 2026 to learn what longevity science meant for the skin and overall health.
About the NUS Geromedicine: Unlock Healthy Longevity Conference 2026
Organised by the Academy for Healthy Longevity, The Geromedicine: Unlock Healthy Longevity Conference 2026 was held on 26–27 February at the National University of Singapore. This scientific conference brings together international researchers, clinicians, industry professionals and regulators from Singapore with the aim of bringing translational science into safe interventions that can meaningfully extend healthspan.
The explicit focus for The Geromedicine: Unlock Healthy Longevity Conference 2026 was supplements and repurposed drugs as geroprotectors. The key scientific themes of the conference included the biology of ageing, NAD⁺ precursors and mitochondrial enhancers, repurposed drugs for longevity, regulatory science and quality standards, and clinical applications in personalised gerotherapeutics.
Dr Magali Moreau, AVP of Scientific Direction – Advanced Research at L’Oréal, shares the research on biomarkers for skin aging and predictvie diagnostics can support skin longevity.
Highlights of the NUS Geromedicine: Unlock Healthy Longevity Conference 2026
The conference is anchored by Professor Andrea Maier, one of the world’s foremost clinical geroscientists. Prof Maier and most of the speakers framed the argument that precision geromedicine is not a future aspiration but a present clinical reality, and that the next challenge is building systems with precise diagnostic tools, intervention protocols and regulatory guardrails. Singapore’s greying population presents escalating healthcare and long term macroeconomic constraints. Having a healthier population and reduced disease burden requires both reactive and proactive prevention of diseases. On an individual level, advancing geromedicine also means better healthspan for us and our loved ones- so you can see why I have a deep interest in this topic.
Some of the major highlights of the longevity conference for me were Prof Nir Eynon’s talk on the differential pattern of ageing across tissues; and the talks about NAD+, mitochondria ageing and mitophagy by ProfProfessor Scheibye-Knudsen, Asst. Prof Vincenzo Sorrentino and Prof Evandro Fang.
Day 2 was especially relevant from a skin perspective. Professor Barry Halliwell and Professor Bob Beelman spoke about ergothioneine, including whether it may function as a kind of “longevity vitamin”, which made me think about the role of active ingredients that could defend against oxidative stress, inflammation and photoageing in skin. One of the talks I was naturally most interested in was Dr Magali Moreau’s session on L’oreal’s integrative skin science ongoing research to extend skinspan. Dr Christopher Lay’s talk on the microbiome aging patterns and the role of precision nutrition also gave me food for thought on the gut-skin axis and its roles in dermatological conditions such as acne, rosacea and eczema.
Attending conferences like these to stay updated and ahead of the curve. Ultimately, longevity medicine and skin longevity medicine are not separate disciplines. They share biology, share mechanisms, and overlapping interventions.
What I learnt about longevity and healthspan
One of the consistent framings across the conference was the distinction between lifespan (how long you live) and healthspan (how long you live in good biological function). This distinction matters enormously in clinical practice, and it maps directly to what my patients are actually asking for. Hearing that idea discussed across so many different domains, from metabolism to microbiome science to clinical trial design made it feel far more concrete and actionable. Another theme in the conference was the framing of precision geromedicine as personalised, biomarker-driven care to optimise health, extend healthspan and prevent age-related disease was also consistent. Afterall, healthy ageing is multimodal and personalised, rather than through a single magic-bullet intervention. The programme repeatedly returned to combinations of lifestyle measures, supplements, repurposed drugs, biological age monitoring and multi-system assessment.
Takeaways from the conference
Many of the lessons I learned from the conference also apply to skin longevity. Firstly, skin longevity should be approached through a similar framework: personalised and precise interventions to improve skin biology such as barrier integrity, collagen quality, repair capacity, hydration, pigmentation stability and resilience against UV exposure, pollution and inflammation.
Second, skin is both a target organ and a window into systemic ageing. Many of the themes discussed at the conference such as cellular senescence, epigentic aging, inflammaging, mitochondrial dysfunction, microbiome science and cross-tissue biology also impact the skin. When we look at skin, we should also support the individual’s overall health for the skin to stay healthier longer.
Third, the conference strengthened my belief that personalised skin longevity is the future. Two patients of the same age can have very different skin ageing trajectories depending on their lifestyles and genetics. So just as longevity medicine is moving toward individualised, biomarker-led care, skin longevity should also become more tailored. This means combining prevention, skincare, lifestyle optimisation and evidence-based aesthetic treatments in a more strategic way. This is my clinical application of the conference’s broader precision geromedicine model to skin longevity.
Overall, I appreciated that the conference brought an up to date and rigorous look at the evidence of emerging field of geromedicine. What I found especially fruitful was the way it widened my perspectives as a skin longevity doctor. It reminded me that the future of skin longevity is about integrating dermatology with the wider biology of ageing including inflammation, mitochondrial health, nutrition, hormones, microbiome science, biomarkers, clinical trial evidence and responsible regulation. Would you take this direction with your skin health as well?
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