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Vitalia was a series of biotechnology conferences including the VitaDAO Life Extension Conference held on Roatán Island, Honduras from January to February 2024.^{[2][3][note 1]} The conferences were sponsored on Roatán by Próspera, a libertarian enclave with separate laws from those of Honduras (a so-called 'libertarian paradise').^[4] The conferences have attracted numerous food woo promoters, drug addicts, transhumanists, extropians, so-called 'biohackers', futurists, cryonicists, as well as longevity pseudoscientists and cranks who support hypothetical anti-aging technologies, dietary supplements and "superfast drug developments" with the goal of life extension and immortality.^{[note 2]}

The VitaDAO Life Extension Conference has been criticised for its aims of extending people's lifespans by dietary supplements, biopharmaceuticals and medical devices outside of FDA regulation by not requiring phase II trials before new longevity therapy use.^[5] Vitalia’s location within the precincts of Próspera on the island of Roatán in Honduras was apparently chosen as an economic zone where researchers and biotech companies avoid FDA regulation. Próspera also has its own cryptocurrency-based property rights.

Vitalia has described its risible aim to "accelerate progress in longevity biotech, fostering drug development at warp speed: 4 months to get to market instead of 10+ years, and make death optional."^[6] In January 2025, Vitalia co-founders Niklas Anzinger and Laurence Ion publicly stated that Vitalia had disbanded (probably because of the legal dispute Próspera has with the government of Hondurus). They have since formed two separate organizations, Viva City and Infinita City.^[7]

Conferences

• Longevity Biotech (LongBio)
• Crypto Cities, Network States, and Neogovernance (NeoGov)
• AI & Techno-Optimism
• Pathways to Life Extension: Biotech Solutions

Speakers

The Longevity Biotech Conference - Part 1 (Jan 15 - 21, Summit: Jan 20)^[8]

• ​Aubrey de Grey: controversial biogerontologist, cryonicist, and the co-founder of SENS Research Foundation. Grey's research on life extension has been described as pseudoscience.^[9] Two women have accused Grey of sexual harassment.^[10][11] The SENS Research Foundation subsequently removed him as their chief science officer.^[12]
• ​Sebastian Brunemeier: biotech entrepreneur^[13] who is CEO of ImmuneAGE Bio and co-founder of Cambrian Biopharma.
• Bryan Johnson: millionaire and CEO of Project Blueprint. Johnson is an eccentric proponent of anti-aging and spends $2,000,000 annually trying to "de-age" including taking more than 100 pills and supplements each day.^[14] The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has criticised some of Johnson's anti-aging methods such as plasma transfusions as not beneficial but harmful.^[15]
• ​Jeanne Frances Loring: stem cell biologist and developmental neurobiologist. Loring founded two biotech companies including Aspen Neuroscience.
• ​Josef Christensen: Chief BD Officer of StemMedical, a commercial-stage mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) therapy company in Denmark.
• Terence Kealey: British biochemist affiliated to the Cato Institute who opposes the public funding of science.^[16]
• Anders Sandberg: Swedish futurist and cryonicist. Sandberg is a senior research fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute at the University of Oxford.
• Jessica Flanigan: Professor of Healthcare Ethics at University of Richmond. Author of Pharmaceutical Freedom: Why Patients Have A Right to Self Medicate.^[17][18]
• Alex Tabarrok: libertarian and Canadian-American economist. Tabarrok has been described as one of the most influential bloggers on the political right.^[19]
• Michael Ringel: Managing Director and Senior Partner at Boston Consulting Group.^[20]
• Nils Regge: German investor and entrepreneur who co-founded Apollo Health Ventures in 2017.^[21]
• Michael Baran: Executive Director, WWBD and Partner at Pfizer Ventures.^[22]
• Alberto Santagostino: senior vice-president and head of cell and gene technologies at Lonza Pharma and Biotech.^[23]
• ​Simone Fantaccini: Head of Medical Affairs & CSO at Novartis Pharmaceutical AG.^[24]
• Andrew Cohen: Vice President, Head Counsel R&D Legal at Takeda Pharmaceuticals. Holds a a J.D. from The University of Chicago.
• Elisabeth Roider: physician-scientist who works at University Hospital of Basel and the Harvard Medical School.^[25]
• S. Jay Olshansky: research associate at the Center on Aging (University of Chicago) and co-author of the book The Quest for Immortality: Science at the Frontiers of Aging. Despite the title of his book Olshansky is more a proponent of increasing the human healthspan rather than life extension.
• ​Laura Koivusalo: CEO of Stemsight. The company's goal is to cure blindness by stem cell research.^[26]
• ​Andrea B. Maier: Director of the Center for Health Longevity at the National University of Singapore (NUS).
• Ingemar Patrick Linden: philosopher and author of the book The Case against Death. Linden argues for anti-aging technology and radical life extension.^[27]
• Nathan Cheng: an evangelist and self-described longevity enthusiast who describes himself on "a mission to end biological aging."^[28]
• ​Laurence Ion: Co-Founder of Vitalia who set up a longevity network society, which he describes as a "multi-jurisdiction society built around the idea that life is good death is bad."^[29]
• ​Niklas Anzinger: Co-Founder of Vitalia and host of the Stranded Technologies Podcast.^[30]
• ​Martin Ducker: chief science officer at Juvenescence.^[31] Holds a DPhil in the Department of Physiology Anatomy and Genetics at the University of Oxford.
• ​Greg Nakagawa: CEO of Pristine Regenerative Medicine Nexus and Radiant Health Solutions. The latter appears to have sold dietary supplements.^[32]
• ​Paolo Binetti: Core Team at VitaDAO, described as a "community-owned collective dedicated to funding and advancing early stage longevity science research".^[33]
• Jack Scannell: CEO of Etheros Pharmaceuticals a pre-clinical stage company that is developing new chemistries for neurodegenerative diseases.^[34]
• Glenn C. Terry: US Board Certified Orthopedic Surgeon and the founder of the GARM Clinic on the Island of Roatán.^[35]
• Matthew Scholz: entrepreneur with a background in computer security, immunology, and gene therapy.
• Michael D. West: biogerontologist and author of The Immortal Cell: One Scientist's Quest to Solve the Mystery of Human Aging.
• ​Robin Mansukhani: CEO and Co-Founder of Deciduous Therapeutics, developing novel immunotherapies to treat age related diseases.^[36]
• José Luis Cordeiro: Venezuelan-Spanish engineer and futurist writer who has predicted "death will be optional by 2045".^{Do You Believe That?}
• Reason (pseudonym?): Co-founder and CEO of Repair Biotechnologies a preclinical biotechnology company based in Syracuse, New York.^[37]
• Tyler Golato: Co-founder and Chief Executive Officer at Molecule AG. Has a background in experimental therapeutics and biogerontology.
• John Cumbers: British molecular biologist and CEO of SynBioBeta. Cumber formerly worked in space synthetic biology for NASA.
• Josh Mitteldorf: astrophysicist and author of Cracking the Aging Code: The New Science of Growing Old - And What It Means for Staying Young.
• Yuta Lee: Founder and CEO of Accelerated Biosciences Corp. Yuta holds an MBA from China Europe International Business School.^[38]
• Alexandra Stolzing: Professor of Biogerontological Engineering at Loughborough University. Advisor to the Longevity Biotech Fellowship and VitaDAO.
• ​Stijn Heessen: Chief Operations Officer of Alder Therapeutics. Holds a PhD in Cell and Tumour Biology from the Karolinska Institute in Sweden.
• ​Alejandro Ocampo: Co-founder of a company which is focused on epigenetic reprogramming for age reversal. Affiliated to the University of Lausanne.^[39]
• Kelsey Moody: process-orientated drug developer. Holds a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from University of Miami’s Miller School of Medicine.
• ​Ashley Zehnder: Co-Founder and Chief Executive Officer of Fauna Bio. Holds a PhD in Cancer Biology from Stanford University.
• ​Andy Lee: Co-Founder and CBO of of Vincere Biosciences, a biotech company.^[40] Founding CTO at NeuroInitiative where he is a co-inventor of granted and pending patents.
• ​Ivan Morgunov: CEO of Longaevus Technologies, a UK-based biotech company dedicated to advancing technologies that promote longer, healthier lives.^[41]
• Peter Fedichev: biotech entrepreneur. Co-founder of Gero, a data-driven longevity biotech company that uses an AI-platform.
• ​Emily Welsch: Founder and CEO of Clinbook, a clinical trial software company.
• ​Dylan Wenzlau: Founder of meme generation platform Imgflip.^[42]
• Natalie Coles: chief phlebotomist for multiple supercentenarian projects, including at Stanford and UCLA, as part of the Supercentenarian Research Foundation.
• Ana Stankovic: Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of InoHealth, a Swiss-based company centered on longevity.

Startup Societies and Crypto Cities (Jan 29 - Feb 4, Summit: Feb 3)^[43]

• Vitalik Buterin: co-founder of Ethereum. The Vitalia conferences were inspired by Buterin's retreat in Montenegro (a two-month invite-only gathering at a seaside hamlet named Zuzalu).^[44][45][46]
• Robin Hanson: Associate Professor of Economics at George Mason University. Hanson's political views been described as conservative.^[47] He has attracted criticism for his offensive writings and comments on incels and was once described as "America's creepiest economist."^[48] Hanson is a supporter of cryonics and has written a blog post titled "We Don't Have to Die."^[49]
• Patri Friedman: anarcho-capitalist, and theorist of political economy. He founded The Seasteading Institute to "startup communities that float on the ocean with any measure of political autonomy."^[50]

AI and Technological Progress Conference Feb 5 - 11, Summit: Feb 10)^{[51][note 3]}

• Max More: philosopher and transhumanist, most known for his essay "Transhumanism: Toward a Futurist Philosophy."
• Yury Melchinek: Swiss-Belarusian entrepreneur and software engineer. Creator of the mobile app Maps.me.

• Ivan Provilkov: Head of Product and Engineering at Neiro.ai. Holds a MSc in Computer Science from Moscow Institute of Physics and Technology.^[52]
• Danilo Tomanovic: President of ML Deep Dive.^[53]
• Ben Goertzel: computer scientist and AI researcher who has written about artificial general intelligence (AGI).
• Michael Huemer: Professor of Philosophy at the University of Colorado, Boulder. Huemer is an advocate of ethical vegetarianism.
• Beff Jezos: co-founder of the e/acc movement (effective accelerationism). Self-described "cosmic post-humanist".^[54]
• Ronjon Nag: British-American inventor and Adjunct Professor in Genetics at the Stanford School of Medicine.^[55]
• Masa Keith Nakatsu: Co-founder and ex-CEO of Orb. Technology entrepreneur.^[56]

The Longevity Biotech Conference - Part 2 (Feb 19 - Feb 25, Summit: Feb 24)^{[57][note 4]} ​

• Vera Gorbunova: biologist who runs a research laboratory at the University of Rochester. Married to Andrei Seluanov.
• Andrei Seluanov: biologist and husband of Vera Gorbunova. Professor of Biology and Medicine at the University of Rochester.
• Bruno Balen: Co-founder of Ani Biome.^[58]
• Caitlin Lewis: Research Associate at SENS Research Foundation. Holds a BSc in Molecular Biology from San Jose State University.^[59]
• Diogo Barardo: senior research fellow at the Future of Humanity Institute, University of Oxford.
• Nichola Conlon: molecular biologist and Co-Founder & CEO of Nuchido.^[60]
• Kia Winslow: Associate Director at BioAge Labs.^[61]
• Nikolina Lauc: CEO of GlycanAge, a biotech company based in London.
• Max Unfried: PhD student from the Kennedy Lab at the National University of Singapore Centre for Healthy Longevity.
• Jennifer Fogaty: Chief Scientific Officer for the Translational Research Institute for Space Health at Baylor College of Medicine.
• Mark Hamalainen: Co-founder of the Longevity Biotech Fellowship.
• Maria Corlianò: Co-Founder, Scientific Director and CTO of OSbiome, a Singapore health-tech company.
• David G. McCarthy: Associate Professor for the Risk Management and Insurance Program at UGA's Terry College of Business.^[62]

Próspera

Próspera the "self-governing" enclave on the Honduran island of Roatan was founded as a free-market with its own legal system. According to one source: "Around 50 companies set up operations there, hosting conferences with themes like "Make Death Optional" and attracting biohackers and venture capitalists."^[63] The enclave, however, has been embroiled in a legal battle with Honduras’ supreme court ruling that Próspera’s legal framework unconstitutional.^[64]

The French mainstream newspaper Le Monde has described Próspera as an "eccentric private libertarian enclave."^[65]

See also

• Life Extension Foundation

Notes

References