​[LIMITED CAPACITY: CONFIRMED GUESTS ONLY❗️]

​​🗒️ Summary:

​Longevity Investor Network & Lifespan Research Institute (LRI) Translational Research & Venture Showcase (Pitch Event)

​Join us for an inside look at Lifespan Research Institute’s most advanced translational research programs as they move toward spin-out readiness in 2026. This curated event brings together founders, investors, operators, and scientific leaders at the intersection of aging biology, mitochondrial health, and cellular senescence.

​The evening will begin with short, focused talks from LRI’s internal translational research teams, highlighting two of our most commercially advanced programs. These efforts exemplify LRI’s mission to translate rigorous intramural research into venture-backed companies with the potential for real-world impact.

​Following a dedicated networking break, the evening will transition into a curated series of startup pitch sessions spotlighting companies operating at the forefront of longevity, biotechnology, and healthspan innovation. These companies represent a new generation of science-driven ventures translating cutting-edge biology into scalable therapeutic and platform opportunities.

​The pitch sessions will feature confirmed companies including LeahLabs, Rethink64, and Repair Biotechnologies, each addressing fundamental drivers of aging and age-related disease through differentiated scientific and engineering approaches. Collectively, these teams are building across critical pillars of the longevity ecosystem—from cellular repair and metabolic resilience to translational strategies designed to move rapidly from discovery into clinical relevance.

​These are not speculative concepts, but companies actively shaping how longevity science will be developed, validated, and commercialized over the coming decade. Each pitch will offer insight into the company’s scientific thesis, progress to date and long-term vision.

​Learn more about LRI’s intramural research platform here:
👉 https://www.lifespan.io/our-research/intramural-research/

​​📝 DETAILS:

​​​​• Why join? This event offers a unique opportunity to dive into new topics, connect with like-minded individuals, and open doors to exciting possibilities—even the chance to build and/or invest in your next company! You might meet a future portfolio company, collaborator, mentor, or investor, or spark an idea that could lead to the next major startup or scientific breakthrough!

​​​​• Who Should Join? The select audience will be comprised of Investors, Family Offices, Corporate Biotech Venture Partners with select researchers and startups operating in the longevity biotech field.

​​🗓️ SCHEDULE:

​​Sunday January 11th, 2026

​​​• 1:45PM: Check-In & Networking

​​​• 2:20PM - 2:30: Keith Comito - Opening Remarks

​​​• 2:30PM-2:50PM: Boominathan Lab Presentation (Restoring Mitophagy Surveillance)

​​​• 2:50PM-3:10PM: Sharma Lab Presentation (PIKfyve Kinase inhibitor as a senolytic and clinical candidate for the treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF))

​​​• 3:10PM-3:40PM:​ Networking

​​​• 3:40PM - 3:50PM: Remarks from the CEO (Keith Comito) & Director of Education (Lillian Fishman) - Lifespan Research Institute

​​• 3:50PM-4:10PM: Leah Labs Presentation

​​​• 4:10PM-4:30PM: Rethink64 Presentation

​​​• 4:30PM-4:50PM: Repair Biotechnologies Presentation

​​​• 4:50PM-5:10PM: Vincere Biosciences Presentation

​​​• 5:10PM-5:30PM: Gero Presentation

​​​• 5:30PM-6:30PM: Networking

​🔬 Presenting Team & Companies:​

​Restoring Mitophagy Surveillance to Re-Establish Mitochondrial Health - Boominathan Lab

​This program focuses on restoring the body’s innate ability to regulate mitochondrial quality control. A mutation-agnostic lead compound has been identified that enhances the clearance of damaged mitochondria, enabling durable remodeling of the mitochondrial network and restoration of healthy mitochondrial balance. This work represents a highly differentiated approach to mitochondrial dysfunction with broad therapeutic potential.

​🔗 Lab overview:
https://www.lifespan.io/our-research/boominathan-lab/​​

​PIKfyve Kinase inhibitor as a senolytic and clinical candidate for the treatment of Idiopathic Pulmonary Fibrosis (IPF) - Sharma Lab

​Cellular senescence is a pivotal hallmark of aging that limits lifespan and drives age-related diseases. Efforts to identify senolytic drugs that selectively eliminate senescent cells have yielded candidates with limited translational potential. Building on our findings of increased membrane permeability and abundance of lysosomal enzymes on the plasma membrane, we observed that lysosomal exocytosis is a key survival adaptation in senescent cells. Inhibition of PIKfyve kinase with small molecules selectively kills senescent cells in vitro, without affecting quiescent or proliferating cells, via a non-canonical form of cell death. In a murine model of pulmonary fibrosis, apilimod reduced senescence burden in the lungs and outperformed nintedanib in reducing fibrosis. We conclude that PIKfyve kinase is an attractive senolytic target and apilimod holds therapeutic potential for senescence-associated diseases of aging. 

​🔗 Lab overview:
https://www.lifespan.io/our-research/sharma-lab/

​Leah Labs

​Chimeric Antigen Receptor (CAR) T cell therapies induce lasting remissions in hematologic malignancies, but their extension to solid tumors is constrained by the biology of legacy therapeutic designs. LEAH Labs uses generative protein engineering to uplift CAR components and T cell biology to augment signaling strength, increase persistence, and impart functional longevity. We've built a suite of de novo molecules to augment CAR-T cells including new-to-nature transmembrane domains and peptide transcription factor inhibitors that increase CAR-T cell fitness. Uniquely, we use natural cancer in dogs as a fast, capital-efficient and translational model, and we're the first in the world to induce remissions in pet dogs with cancer using CAR-T cells. We're building for near-term commercialization and early revenue under USDA-CVB while creating multiple paths to asymmetric value creation through licensing, co-development, or human company spin-outs from our novel assets. At LEAH Labs, we're building curative cell therapies for pets and their people.

​​​Rethink64

​ReThink64’s novel Nexus platform enables stable, penetrating and concentrated delivery of next generation drugs like peptides, RNAs and other macromolecules. The company is led by Stanford PhD and second time founder (Turn Bio) Dr. Jay Sarkar. He is backed by a seasoned team of industry professionals out of Stanford Research Institute and Harvard Business School. The Nexus platform has demonstrated high efficiency delivery in both Mice and in Humans with both injection and topical application. ReThink64 is already engaged with their first clients: two in skin aging and a third in dry eye disease, in addition to multiple collaborations with Stanford University.

​Repair Biotechnologies

​The first-in-class Cholesterol Degrading Platform (CDP). Repair Biotechnologies develops the Cholesterol Degrading Platform, a safe approach to treating medical conditions that arise due to localized accumulations of excess cholesterol. In particular, our treatments can rapidly and dramatically reduce atherosclerotic plaque in arteries, the cause of stroke, heart attack, and other cardiovascular disease.

​Vincere Biosceinces

​Vincere Biosciences is a biotechnology company focused on restoring mitochondrial quality control, the cell’s ability to identify and remove damaged mitochondria. Led by neuroscientist Dr. Spring Behrouz and computer scientist Andy Lee. Vincere is advancing first-in-class small-molecule medicines toward the clinic, beginning with Parkinson’s disease. Backed by strong human genetics, compelling preclinical data, and an AI-driven discovery engine, Vincere aims to open an entirely new therapeutic frontier for age-related diseases.

​Gero

​Building at the crossroads of theoretical physics, cutting-edge biology, and generative AI. Our platform is trained on more than 100M+ longitudinal medical records — one of the world’s deepest views into how human bodies age and recover in real life. Using physics-informed models, we translate this data into a quantitative picture of aging being driven by entropy buildup leading to system-wide loss of resilience that makes each stressor a little harder to shake off. Knowledge is power. We aim at an ambitious yet achievable goal: to deliver first-in class therapeutics able to double human health and lifespan within a single generation.

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​​🤝 INVESTOR ATTENDEES:

​​Investors From: Coming Soon!

​​⭐️ ATTENDANCE:

• ​​Confirmed Attending Investors From: Longevity Investor Network, Age1, ContinuumHealthVC, DraperVC, LunarVentures, NFX, PioneerFundVC, PearVC, InsightPartners, XPrize, OutsidersFund, Matrix Partners China, HCVC, BackedVC, ARPA-H, E12 Ventures, LongevityTechFund, Longevity Vision Fund, BoxOne Ventures, SOS Ventures, Maximon, Juvenescence, 5AM Ventures, CambrianBio, AltosLabs, Canaan Partners, LongeVC, Methuselah Foundation, CurieBio, Centenarian Fund, Formic Ventures, Khosla Ventures, Prime Movers Lab, Life Science Angels, Emerging Longevity Ventures, HOF Capital, Kaiser Pernamente Ventures, OrbiMed, IndieBio, Apollo Health Ventures, and more!

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​​Lifespan Research Institute (“LRI”) is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on the defeat of age-related disease and the extension of healthy human lifespan – through raising funds and awareness for scientific work addressing the root causes of the aging process, building a thriving ecosystem of mission aligned stakeholders which can be mobilized to strategic action, and spearheading relevant research projects directly. We work to identify, develop, and promote initiatives with outsized impact and the greatest potential to realize widespread access to regenerative medicine solutions targeting the disabilities and diseases of aging.

​​Lifespan.io Sponsors & Members of the Lifespan Alliance

​​We are deeply honored by and grateful for the support of our Lifespan Alliance members, whose contributions are integral to our mission to extend healthy human lifespan and overcome age-related disease. These forward-thinking organizations empower our work at the forefront of scientific discovery and advocacy, advancing transformative interventions and fostering breakthroughs that will redefine health and aging for generations to come. Join the Lifespan Alliance today.

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​​​The Longevity Investor Network is an initiative of Lifespan Research Institute, a 501(c)(3) nonprofit formed through the merger of SENS Research Foundation and Lifespan.io.

​​​As a 501(c)3 nonprofit, your support is vital to our mission at LRI—consider making a donation to help us continue advancing longevity science and hosting impactful events like this one.

​​For more information on how to join the Longevity Investor Network, please reach out to [email protected]

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