Oskar Moore: There are more than 90,000 master's programs listed worldwide. So what made you believe Geneva College of Longevity Science could launch a master's in Longevity Science that would genuinely stand out and attract a strong demand?

Dominik Thor: Well, very good question, but I think the first thing I'd like to point out is the fact that out of these 90,000 zero... are linked to longevity science. the only ones in the world covering this new field of science. And the reason for that, it's highly interdisciplinary. It's all happening very fast. And it's a young field. So, I mean, obviously it's something that established universities maybe didn't have on their radar, but there is huge demand, I think, for science-driven education in the field and the opportunity to learn from an institution that gives it, know, academic credibility and also sort of a vetted information because there is a lot of information out there on social media. Some of it actually pretty good but there are limitations as to the format. So when you have short videos on social media, Instagram or whatever, there is a limited amount of information that you can convey. And then of course you have some self-declared profits that might not actually know what they're talking about. So we said it needs to be rooted in academic science and quality. Easy.

Oskar Moore: Dominic Thor, welcome to the business of longevity. It's a pleasure to have you on the podcast. You've got this unusual background with a mix of pharmacy, business, building companies, and now institution building through GCLS, the Geneva College of Longevity Science. So let's kind of start there. How do you define what you actually do today?

Dominik Thor: Well, I would say I'm a teacher because I'm taking what other clever people thought of and try to ensure that, you know, that it's based on actual clinical validation science. And then we have a lot of people that are interested in learning. First and foremost, of course, doctors who have a strong interest in up, you know, scaling their opportunities, empowering themselves, making themselves ready for the many questions that they're paid. have because everybody's into longevity nowadays. So it's something that I really enjoy. It's very nice. It's coming from a business background too, as you rightly say. I think that education in some ways is less competitive. So it's actually nice you're in a very neutral position because everybody's basically trying to do the same thing here. We try to increase the access of people to good solid scientific information.

Oskar Moore: So running a school like this all focused on longevity, makes me wonder a little bit. Longevity is one of those words that gets used in a lot of different ways in a lot of different contexts. When you Dominic use it, what do you actually mean? What's your definition?

Dominik Thor: Well, I think that for me, it all has to do with healthy aging, ensuring that as we grow older, we retain the opportunity or capabilities to enjoy our lives mentally, physically. So it's actually a lot of components that are relevant, but it's about health span, really enriching those extra years that we gotten thanks to public health, medicine, etc. But ensure that they are healthy ones. Thank

Oskar Moore: Great. And on the personal side, what's the most interesting longevity intervention that you've personally experimented with?

Dominik Thor: Oh my, well, you know, I'm not maybe the kind of person who's really on the experimental side of things. I like really to check whether something, you know, is safe and working and clinically effective, because before I put it into my own body, I think what's interesting right now and everybody's talking about a lot and I tried some of those are the peptides, which have still difficult regulatory status in many regions. So in Europe, on general they are they're not any any well they're allowed medical products or even non-medical products. So they are off label and if anything you can get them on the gray market or black market. It's actually quite interesting because there is a lot of data but it's not yet evaluated in a precise clinical fashion, you know, through long-term studies but it's anecdotal data where you have a lot of doctors and sports guys, et cetera, reporting on some interesting facts and I think in the the field of let's say regenerative medicine it's actually quite interesting if you have some some issues whatever you know shoulder problems or so on that is maybe something that could help and and I tried it in that context so not trying to mess up you know hormonal levels or anything but rather go into the in the field of you know regenerative medicine so that is actually very interesting.

Oskar Moore: an interesting thing to to sit there and poke yourself with a peptide. It's like in the beginning when I tried it out it was also kind of like what am I what am I doing here but then you kind of get used to a lot a lot of things so peptides is definitely one of those things that are exciting right now but there's also much more need for for education and a bigger sample size that that's trying this out. If we Amazing, very exciting. So if we take a few steps back and we think about who is Dominic, when you were growing up, what was that pivotal moment that pushed you towards both pharmacy, business and science kind of all coming together? And that led you, if I'm not mistaken, into the banking sector and like emerging acquisition type roles. that you went through a medical school, pharmacy and business, and then you went into banking or how did that happen? Hey. Interesting because that's very much what I see as well is that the young generation, people even younger than me, but when I was going through school, the consideration was what was the best paying job, which what was the job that you were most comfortable in, but not necessarily thinking about what impact you have. was when you're in your 20s, it's as if you think here and now much more than the impact you have and how your future is going to look. That's an interesting reflection. And This leads me a little bit to say you step out of this and you're interested in the pharmacy and the medical side of things, but when did you start touching upon longevity, upon health span? Was there a moment or was it something that was always interesting for you? Fantastic story. It's the circle of life and that route that you end up taking is always very interesting. Where you start isn't necessarily where you're gonna end up. Let's move into G-C-L-S. And I want to get that completely right, that I put the letters in the right order there. When did this thought to create a university occur? When did that spark? Interesting because most people that I can speak to in my journey of longevity, they always say education is key to educate people, but it's often through some form of media platform or a conference they want to have. So they want to get all the experts under one roof for a couple of days. And I just think it's fascinating that you have taken that, gone the extra mile. to create something that's institutional, something that has some more credibility and something that actually pulls in some ETCS points, which is amazing. But I'm kind of curious as in who these students might be. So you started off earlier and you said it's often doctors, but doctors already have their university degree. So what kind of students is it that you experience? they? Mature, are they coming just through? this their first degree or what type of students is it? You mentioned earlier that there's some doctors that enroll with you and I'm curious as to what type of students apart from doctors that choose to come in and educate themselves and do you experience any students that are in their 20s that do your education or is it actually people that are later on in their careers and that want to upskill themselves?

Dominik Thor: Yeah, very good question. So we get different kinds of educational programs that we offer. We have a master's program, which was the first that we started with. We're going to follow up with a PhD program this summer together with a European university so we can use their great lab infrastructure and everything. But we also get continuing professional education. So that is for doctors that are done with their studies, but continuously try to upskill themselves, as you rightly said. And then we also have other health care. experts, since for instance, you know, lifestyle intervention plays a big role in longevity science. And you see now a lot of physiotherapists, nutritionists, fitness trainers working together with doctors in clinics or even outside of clinics, maybe more in the context of other industries like healthcare, know, wellness or hospitality. And we also have these kind of students. But I would say in general, those people that look for further education in longevity as of now are people that have some professional link to it. So they are working in the field already or wanting to. So the majority of students that we have right now are medical doctors or entrepreneurs even. So I would say in the master's program about 40 percent of our students don't have a medical or biology background but they are usually very well, well off, I would say, know, individuals. that either run companies in the field, hotel chains, wellness, spas. Sometimes they have a regulatory legal background, because that is, of course, very important in the context of longevity, because it's not even that everybody defines it differently. It's the regulators that define it differently everywhere. And we have some investors even that want to, you know, just make better decisions. So it's, I think, a very interesting community of people.

Oskar Moore: Is GCLS a business at the same time as being a school?

Dominik Thor: Well, it's a private school, it's not a state-run university. We have to ask for tuition fees in order to ensure that we can finance everything that's happening. We have an approach where we try to basically give back, is the wrong word here, but we would like to really promote education across many levels. and asking for tuition fees allows us to do other things for free. So we have what we call the GCLS Long Travity Review, which is essentially a business magazine that we create and hand out for free. This is in order to ensure that we get more more stakeholders involved. And it's just easier to explain to them that if you, for instance, promote preventative health care as a regulator or an insurance you allow, you you pay for checkups etc. then you will end up saving money. So showcasing that this field of programs and create free courses. We have some projects going on together with schools, et cetera, where we want to look at the opportunity of potentially integrating some of the findings of longevity science and biology into their normal teachings. So there is a lot going on that I think makes us different from a traditional university, but we don't see ourselves as a business and we are following these Swiss academic guidelines. which more or less create strict Chinese walls and ensure that we really act in the interest of our students and not of any shareholders.

Oskar Moore: So because this is a business podcast and I do, I'm aware of your answer saying that you're not a business, but you're private so it requires tuition for the school to run. And I'm thinking a little bit here in terms of. Is there a pressure for you guys to make sure that the classrooms are being filled up so that GCLS can survive? You must have to think in some terms of marketing funnel and all these things that you mentioned about conferences and the beautiful magazine, by the way, that I recommend anyone to have a look at because it truly is beautiful looking into all different sides of longevity. I quickly in my branding and marketing brain start thinking about this must be part of your marketing funnel to attract new doctors and new people in the industry to want to join your master's program and later this PhD. Dominic, we just before we got on here, we spoke a little bit about this new course you're starting or rather PhD. What would you call it? PhD course? Or what would you call that? Program, that's the right word, you see. just gotta get all the phrases right. So you're gonna create a PhD program, which, I mean, I can't even start to fathom how difficult it is to get all the regulation right and structure this. And then you talked a little bit about an incubator that might be there, where you are going to connect the students with potential investors or the business sphere. Tell me a little bit about that, because that sounds super excited. And I meet a lot of very highly qualified scientists that are looking to be matched with someone who's thinking brand marketing, making sure it gets into the hands of consumers. That's incredible and I think it's so important to be discussing, especially that in terms of some scientists need that kind of support from somewhere else to make sure that their research gets out there and an incubation like that is fantastic. And I definitely think that fits very nicely in with what GCLS is working on. So if a... If a founder kind of came to you and was looking for a bit of support, a bit of guidance, saying we're kind of focusing on creating this longevity brand, we've got the best tech, et cetera, what's the first thing that you would highlight and look at to understand and judge whether or not this actually has opportunity in the market or if it's just a hyped product? Amazing. And fast forward five or ten years, so post the PhD program that's already running and it's got lots of people signing up. What do you want GCLS to become? Absolutely. I'm very excited to, in the future, step onto your campus because I'm sure it be great. If you think a little bit more broadly, where do think the longevity industry will be in five, ten years? Is it more matured by there? Then is it even more regulated? Or does it have a broader crowd? Or how do you think it actually looks down the line? Yeah, I mean, think that's a great answer and a great perspective to think about regulation as a positive thing. But I absolutely agree that it's going in in the direction that we wish. I think from from my side, from from my family's side, we are very mission orientated. And whether or not longevity was a trend or not, we would be working in this. Having done it since the 90s, our mission is to to make people feel better, but today having several companies touching upon anything from lab tests to food to cameras that scan for health and look at the body. Constantly seeing that interest is fantastic and there's a great momentum in the space right now and I do think that we're going to reach more people and as that happens, we need to be more cautious of what's allowed. because all a sudden people will be flying in left, right and center because they see it as an investment opportunity where they're going to make a lot of money and not thinking about helping people to make sure they're living a longer, healthier life. They're thinking preventative and they're looking after themselves. And that's where the clash can quickly happen, I think, when this becomes more of a money industry than it actually becomes a mission-orientated industry. And with that powerful statement, we're moving to the closing part of this episode. So Dominic, what's the one health habit that you personally never miss? Yeah. Hey. Finally, where can listeners find yourself and GCLS online on what social media platforms? I think that sounds great and a great place to go in and explore a little bit more of the offerings and learn a whole bunch. Dominic Thor, thank you so much for joining me on the business of longevity. It's been a pleasure to have you.