One of America’s most influential health gurus and a founding father of longevity research, has been accused of “selling snake oil” and “misleading” the public because of fatal flaws in his studies claiming that age can be reversed, DailyMail.com learned.
Dr. David Sinclair, a professor of genetics at Harvard Medical School, has faced accusations of promoting fake anti-aging drugs over the past decade, including one that pharmaceutical giant GlaxoSmithKline paid him $720 million to develop.
The renowned 54-year-old scientist has previously claimed he “reversed” his own age within a decade using unconventional lifestyle “tricks” and, more recently, promoted an “unscientific” supplement developed by his company that claimed to reverse aging. in dogs.
But the pill is said to be “not supported by data,” according to Matt Kaeberlein, a professor of aging at the University of Washington.
The controversy led to a series of resignations from the prestigious research body he founded, the Academy for Health and Lifespan Research, with Dr Sinclair eventually forced to resign as president.
Dr. David Sinclair has been expelled from the Academy for Health and Lifespan Research amid controversy over a paper that appeared to claim a supplement could reverse aging in dogs.
The image above shows the members of the Academy, with Dr. Sinclair (bottom left) as the founder.
Dr. Sinclair has more than one million followers on social media, where he shares news about the latest advances in longevity medicine.
He is also the author of the New York Times best-selling book Lifespan, host of a podcast of the same name, and was recognized in 2014 as one of TIME magazine’s 100 most influential people.
The latest controversy began in February and centers on a study conducted by scientists at the University of North Carolina veterinary school and funded by Dr. Sinclair’s pet longevity startup, Animal Biosciences.
The preliminary study, which had not been peer-reviewed as usual, involved 70 dogs who were fed a half or full dose of their supplement, Leap Years, or a placebo for six months.
Leap years contain an ingredient that has gained notoriety among longevity researchers called NAD+.
NAD+ (nicotinamide adenine dinucleotide) is an enzyme present in dogs (and humans) that fuels energy in cells throughout the body. As a dog ages, NAD+ levels decrease, meaning their cells begin to deteriorate.
When cells lose their ability to produce energy and function properly, it can lead to disease and disruption of bodily functions. Leap years claim to increase NAD+ levels.
The dogs were followed for six months and 51 completed the study. Animals in the full-dose group showed slight improvements in cognition as reported by their owners after three months, but the effect was not sustained for six months.
However, there were no differences between the groups in changes in activity level, walking speed, or cognitive tests performed by the researchers.
Dr Sinclair revealed the X results alongside a Leap Year promotional image, stating: ‘One-of-a-kind, clinically proven supplement that slows the effects of aging in dogs. Available at LeapYears.com.’
He shared a hyperlink that took his 441,000 followers to a landing page where they could purchase the supplement for between $70 and $130 for a one-month supply.
But this statement sparked a series of accusations from scientists who said it was “out of character” for him to make “unscientific claims”, with some even criticizing him as a “snake oil salesman”.
Dr. Elisabeth Bik, a microbiologist and scientific integrity consultant in San Francisco, told DailyMail.com that her statement was “fraudulent” and that her study showed “questionable research practices.”
She said: “Your results don’t show that you have managed to slow aging in dogs, just improve cognition – that’s not longevity.”
«Testing in mice helps us decide what to test in humans. Then we need to do a stage 1, stage 2, stage 3 clinical trial and then we can say it is clinically proven. Therefore, it is a mistake to say that it is clinically proven at this stage.
“A lot of people put articles on preprint servers to try to sell a pill and make it look scientific, but their research will never be published in an academic journal.”
Dr Sinclair’s tweet sparked a series of accusations from scientists who said it was “out of character” for him to make “unscientific claims”, with some even criticizing him as a “snake oil salesman”.
Forbes removed its article about the supplement when controversy arose over the claims.
Fury erupted online among Dr. Sinclair’s medical colleagues, including Dr. Matt Kaeberlein, who resigned from Sinclair Academy as a result.
Dr. Kaeberlein, a longevity biologist, wrote in in a press release that a product it sells to pet owners has “reversed the aging of dogs.”
“To me, this is the textbook definition of a snake oil salesman.”
Others told DailyMail.com of their frustration, including Dr. Arlan Richardson, a geriatric medicine researcher at the University of Oklahoma, who also left academia.
He said: “I may be old-fashioned, but I felt it was out of character for the president of a professional scientific organization to make such unscientific claims.”
‘I didn’t want to be part of an organization whose leadership was playing fast and loose with the truth. I informed the board of the reasons for my resignation.
Dr. Sinclair attempted to quell the opposition, circulating an apology internally within the Academy and issuing a correction to his press release on March 5.
He had initially said that the supplement was the first “that has been shown to reverse aging in dogs”, but changed this to: “It has been shown to reverse the effects of age-related decline in dogs.”
However, on March 13, just eight days after correcting the post, his resignation was announced.
Dr Nir Barzilai, an aging researcher at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, wrote online: ‘We are writing to inform you that David Sinclair has resigned as president of the Academy.
‘We regret all the events that led to David’s resignation and take seriously the lessons learned.
‘We hope to be able to overcome these events. The Academy is about science and scientists; Everything else is secondary.
On March 15, Dr. Sinclair appeared at the Livelong Summit in West Palm Beach, Florida, where he gave a talk on the potential health benefits of NAD. He didn’t mention his problems with the Academy.
Dr Sinclair did not respond to DailyMail.com’s request for comment.
This is not the first time the scientist has been accused of exaggerating his research findings.
In the early 2000s, the scientist was immersed in extensive analyzes of the potential benefits of a molecule called resveratrol, which he believed had “almost miraculous” anti-aging properties in humans.
In 2004 he founded a private company called Sirtris, which dedicated itself to researching the compound.
Resveratrol is found naturally in numerous foods such as blueberries and peanuts, as well as grapes and grape products such as wine. Proponents say it has the potential to alter the way cells use energy and reduce inflammatory reactions.
In 2008, GSK bought Sirtris for $720 million, making it a subsidiary of the pharmaceutical giant.
But just two years later, GSK ended Dr. Sinclair’s resveratrol research, citing disappointing evidence and side effects such as nausea, vomiting and diarrhea.
In 2013, GSK closed the entire subsidiary.
Subsequent studies repeatedly failed to replicate Dr. Sinclair’s results, and papers from 2013 and 2014 revealed that the “anti-aging” effects he had recorded in animals were due to the fluorescent dye he had used, not resveratrol.
However, Dr. Sinclair put the compound on the map and his initial studies sparked great interest in the substance. Supplement companies now sell bottles of the ingredient for $99 and tout a variety of purported benefits, from lowering blood pressure to increasing energy.
Now, a decade later, he has received similar criticism for his canine longevity supplement, and critics have been quick to compare his scientifically weak claims to those he made about resveratrol.
Dan Elton, a data scientist at Mass General in Boston, wrote in X: ‘David Sinclair constantly exaggerates research claims in which he has financial interests. He makes my stomach turn.
“The crazy thing is that he already made hundreds of millions selling his resveratrol company to GSK, based on shoddy studies that did not [been] replicated.”
And Dr. Bik added: “A Harvard longevity scientist sparks fury by claiming that aging can be reversed in dogs… [Spoiler alert: the supplement does NOT reverse aging in dogs].’