Dominika Wilczok on the global milestone making Healthy Longevity Medicine part of every medical student’s training.
The integration of longevity science into mainstream medicine has reached a defining moment – for the first time, Healthy Longevity Medicine (HLM) is becoming a mandatory subject for medical students. The Longevity Education Hub (LEH), the world’s first free, accredited curriculum in HLM, is expanding into universities across six countries, transforming how future doctors will think about health, disease and aging.
From vision to implementation
Founded in 2020 by Dr Alex Zhavoronkov, Dr Evelyne Bischof, Dr Morten Schibye-Knudsen and Dr Aleksey Moskalev, the Longevity Education Hub pioneered the idea of upskilling physicians in geroscience. What began as a digital platform of freely accessible modules has evolved into a driving force for longevity-focused education worldwide.
As of October 2025, more than 13,000 medical professionals have enrolled in LEH’s online courses. The Hub now operates six national chapters – in Brazil, Spain, Thailand, Indonesia, China and Japan – each adapting and translating the core curriculum to fit local contexts. The 2025 update reflects the latest advances in geroscience, prevention and personalized interventions, ensuring that clinicians in training learn not only how to treat disease, but how to preserve healthspan. Four additional chapters are expected by early 2026.
“Our mission has always been to make education in HLM available to physicians globally. Introducing our curriculum as a mandatory part for the education of future physicians is a crucial step regarding positioning HLM as an officially recognized medical discipline,” said Professor Evelyne Bischof, LEH Co-Founder and co-author of the curriculum.
Building a new foundation for medical training
Following several years of continuing-education success with practicing clinicians, the next step for LEH was to reach medical students at the very start of their training. Under the supervision of Professor Bischof – who is also President of the Healthy Longevity Medicine Society, Medical Director of the Sheba Longevity Clinic and co-author of the 2021 paper defining longevity medicine – the Hub began working with universities to embed HLM into their MD curricula.
The first university to make longevity medicine mandatory is the State University of Makassar in Indonesia. Led by Dr Bhirau Wilaksono, head of LEH’s Indonesian chapter, the inaugural cohort of 47 medical students has already begun incorporating HLM principles into courses from physiology and biochemistry to clinical rotations. Delivered through lectures, problem-based tutorials, clinical-skills labs and community projects, the integrated pathway comprises around 516 hours of HLM education. The first graduates to have completed this training are expected with the class of 2030 – a landmark moment for the region.
Asia leading the charge
Indonesia is not alone. Thailand soon followed, with King Mongkut’s University of Technology Ladkrabang approving a mandatory HLM module for fourth-year students, developed by Dr Wanviput Sanphasitvong and Dr Suwanna Suwannaphong. The first class began in early 2025, and all 29 students successfully passed and advanced to their fifth year.
Beyond the MD program, Dr Sanphasitvong has also created a compulsory HLM component within the Lifestyle Medicine Specialist Certification, organized by the Thai Preventive Medicine Association in collaboration with the Department of Health. The program already counts 176 participants, underscoring a strong appetite for geroscience literacy among clinicians.
Europe and beyond
Momentum is spreading well beyond Asia. In Europe, the Lithuanian University of Health Sciences has signed an MoU with LEH to co-develop a joint second-cycle program in Personalized Medicine. In Bosnia and Herzegovina, LEH’s operational manager Dr Dalila Camdzic spearheaded an elective course titled Longevity Medicine – Healthy Aging at the Sarajevo School of Science and Technology (SSST). Supported by the Federal Ministry of Education and Science, it has already drawn keen student interest, making SSST the fourth university globally to adopt the Hub’s accredited curriculum.
In Brazil, Dr Fabiano Serfaty and Dr Fernanda Calvos Fortes have launched a Portuguese-language version of the LEH course, with an academic agreement now being finalized with the Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ). Meanwhile, the Institute for Healthy Longevity Abu Dhabi has signed an MoU with LEH to co-develop accredited programs for clinicians across the UAE and Gulf region – a step toward unified standards in longevity education.
The next chapter in medical education
“Integrating Healthy Longevity Medicine into mandatory MD curricula ensures that the next generation of doctors can both lead and participate in clinical trials targeting aging mechanisms. This is not just curriculum reform – it’s building the clinical infrastructure for the longevity field,” said Dr Alex Zhavoronkov, LEH Co-Founder and CEO of Insilico Medicine.
With these developments, HLM is steadily moving from concept to credential. What began as an online initiative is now shaping medical education policy, bridging academic institutions, ministries and clinical communities. The result is a new generation of physicians who understand aging not as an inevitable decline, but as a treatable, measurable process.
From Southeast Asia to Europe and the Middle East, Healthy Longevity Medicine is becoming part of the medical mainstream – and with it, the promise of a healthcare system that prizes prevention, regeneration and lifelong vitality. If this momentum continues, medical boards and even the WHO may find themselves playing catch-up – longevity is no longer a fringe concept, it’s becoming medical common sense.
About Dominika Wilczok
With a background in using AI for early Alzheimer’s detection, advocating against ageism, and establishing an NGO centered around Healthy Longevity, for 5 years, Dominika has been working to close the healthspan-lifespan gap. Her current work encompasses longevity medicine, and AI-driven approaches to end aging, and you can watch her TEDX talk on longevity medicine, aging research and AI HERE.
