Four-day longevity gathering to convene scientists, investors and founders, with strong focus on AI x Bio, biostasis and emerging tech.
Vitalist Bay will return to Berkeley, California from 14–17 May 2026, bringing together researchers, founders, clinicians and investors for a four-day program spanning biotechnology, artificial intelligence and health optimization. Hosted at the Lighthaven campus, the event is positioned as a high-intensity convergence across six themes – including longevity science, AI x Bio and biostasis – with an emphasis on both early-stage innovation and capital formation.
Now in its second iteration, the gathering compresses what was previously a longer format into a more concentrated schedule; keynotes, workshops, diagnostics and investor-facing sessions sit alongside startup pitches and curated introductions, reflecting a field that is as much about coordination as it is about discovery.
Longevity.Technology: What distinguishes this new wave of gatherings is less how people meet and more what they believe; Vitalist Bay leans unapologetically into longevity as a defining technological and philosophical frontier, where the language of “solving aging” sits alongside serious discussion of AI-driven drug discovery, biostasis and replacement biology. The prominence of AI x Bio as a central theme – rather than a supporting act – demonstrates how quickly the field is shifting toward computational approaches, with models and data pipelines increasingly shaping not just discovery, but the direction of the science itself. Yet this framing also highlights a familiar tension; ambition is running well ahead of validation, and while the convergence of disciplines may accelerate insight, the path from hypothesis to approved therapy remains stubbornly long. That gap – between conviction and clinic – is where much of the longevity sector will ultimately be tested.
A convergence of disciplines
The 2026 program reflects a deliberately broad interpretation of longevity, spanning epigenetic reprogramming, vascular rejuvenation and immune reset strategies alongside computational biology and AI-enabled discovery. More than 60 speakers are already confirmed, including researchers from institutions such as Stanford University and the Buck Institute, as well as founders and investors operating across the longevity biotech landscape. Big names on the ticket include Aubrey de Grey, Andrew Steele, Michael Snyder, Morgan Levine, Nathan Price, Morten Scheibye-Knudsen, Charles Brenner, Marco Quarta, Martin Borch Jensen, Joe Betts-LaCroix, Karl Pfleger, Nikolina Lauc, Jean Hebert and Laura Minquini.
That breadth is not accidental. Longevity research has long been characterized by fragmentation – disparate datasets, siloed disciplines and uneven translation pathways – and events such as Vitalist Bay appear increasingly designed to compress those gaps. The inclusion of themes such as replacement biology and biostasis, alongside more established areas of geroscience, signals a willingness to entertain a wider spectrum of hypotheses than is typically seen in more conventional biomedical forums.
Capital, computation and coordination
Alongside its scientific programming, the event places notable emphasis on investment and deal flow; structured matchmaking sessions, daily startup pitches and curated introductions aim to connect founders with capital in a more targeted way than traditional networking formats.
This reflects a broader shift within the sector. Longevity is increasingly being framed not simply as a scientific challenge but as an emerging asset class – one that requires new forms of diligence, new benchmarks and, perhaps most critically, better information flows between stakeholders. The growing centrality of AI within the program reinforces this direction; computational tools are no longer adjuncts to biological research but are becoming integral to how hypotheses are generated, tested and prioritized.
Cofounder Nathan Cheng, speaking to Longevity.Technology, situates the gathering within a longer arc of human progress: “Human progress has always been measured by the causes of death we’ve conquered,” he told us. “Infectious disease, famine, childbirth. Aging is now the largest remaining cause of death. Vitalist Bay is the lighthouse gathering leaders, scientists, and experts working to take it on.”
Living longevity
Beyond the formal sessions, the event also incorporates a range of on-site diagnostics and health interventions, from DEXA scanning and continuous glucose monitoring to full blood panels and research participation. The aim is not merely to discuss longevity but to operationalize it – to bring elements of clinical measurement, personal data and intervention into a single environment.
Workshops extend this approach further, offering sessions on drug discovery productivity, health governance and precision nutrition, as well as more speculative topics such as cryopreservation and future models of transplantation. The result is a program that moves between the near-term and the hypothetical with relative ease; not always comfortably, but often productively.
Adam Gries, cofounder of the Vitalism Foundation and Vitalist Bay, frames the event in explicitly ambitious terms: “Death is humanity’s core problem, and aging its primary agent. What makes Vitalist Bay unprecedented isn’t just its scale — it’s the density of interaction between scientists, entrepreneurs, and investors all converging in one dedicated space. In 2026, we’re doing it bigger and better.”
Between hypothesis and reality
At Lighthaven, the physical environment mirrors the conceptual intent; a campus designed for conversation rather than exhibition, with informal spaces intended to encourage extended dialogue and unstructured exchange. It is, in many ways, an attempt to engineer serendipity – to create the conditions under which new collaborations, and perhaps new directions, might emerge.
Whether such environments can meaningfully accelerate translational outcomes remains an open question. Still, as longevity research continues to expand across disciplines, geographies and funding models, the need for spaces that can hold that complexity – and perhaps shape it – is becoming harder to ignore.
Where the edges meet
For all its ambition, the longevity field remains defined by its edges – between biology and computation, between prevention and intervention, between aspiration and evidence. Events like Vitalist Bay do not resolve those tensions; they make them visible. And in doing so, they may offer a clearer view of where the next phase of the field will be negotiated.
Vitalist Bay 2026 runs 14–17 May 2026 at Lighthaven, Berkeley, California – to find out more CLICK HERE.
