Inside Malaysia’s First Longevity Clinic: Changing How We Think About Aging

Megan Chan, Founder and CEO, and Dr. Andes Lai, Co-Founder and Group Medical Director, are the team behind Malaysia’s first longevity-focused clinic. Built on advanced diagnostics, precision medicine and deeply personalised care, Longevity Clinic Malaysia challenges the idea that decline is simply part of getting older. Their goal is not to chase immortality, but to make longer life stronger, clearer and more meaningful – with prevention as the starting point, not an afterthought.

Megan, as Founder & CEO, and Dr. Andes, as Co-Founder and Group Medical Director of Longevity Clinic Malaysia, both of you seem to have taken very personal paths into this field. Your story began around the reality of entering your 40s, seeing the first signs of physical change, losing loved ones, and realizing during COVID-19 how fragile health can be. What first drew each of you to longevity medicine, and how did those personal experiences come together to shape the vision behind Malaysia’s first longevity-focused clinic?

Megan C.: We both have different stories, although we have known and worked with each other for a very long time. I have been in the aesthetics, wellness and longevity sector for quite some time, and my strength and passion lie in building and scaling brands. However, my journey into longevity medicine began long before Longevity Clinic Malaysia existed. Around 2012, my father suffered a major heart attack, with three of his arteries around 90% blocked. Although he survived the procedure, he suddenly seemed to age rapidly. He lost his strength, his body appeared to shrink, and he no longer looked like himself. That was how I discovered functional medicine and learned how nutrition, lifestyle changes and advanced diagnostics could help him regain his strength and begin to look like himself again.

It made me wonder what might have happened if my father had taken proactive action 20 or 30 years earlier. His story could have been different. That realization showed me that the right interventions can change people’s lives. When Dr. Andes and I founded Longevity Clinic Malaysia, we did not simply want to build a clinic. We wanted to build a movement that helps people age with strength and vitality, and to change the belief that aging must inevitably mean decline.

Dr. Andes: For me, it began with both my medical career and my personal experience. I have been practising medicine since 2009, and throughout my career, I have come to believe that healthcare should not focus only on treating disease, but more importantly on preventing it. In hospitals, I saw many older patients who were sick and could no longer function. At the same time, I had witnessed both of my late grandparents live with diabetes and its many complications. They lived long lives, but not with a high quality of life. Because of that family history, I knew I could also be at greater risk, but rather than accepting it as my destiny, I chose to focus on prevention from my 20s. I began learning about metabolic health, changed my lifestyle, exercised and became more mindful of what I ate. I believe we need to do the right things at the right time and begin early. That same belief became one of the core values behind Longevity Clinic Malaysia as well.

Your journeys are clearly rooted in very personal experiences, but also in a shared belief that healthcare should become more proactive. How did that vision translate into Longevity Clinic Malaysia, and what makes the clinic’s approach different?

Megan C.: We are proud to be Malaysia’s first longevity clinic and the Functional Medicine Brand Leader in Malaysia, recognised by the Institute for Functional Medicine in the United States. We began welcoming clients in July 2025, but the clinic had already been in development for one to two years. Before opening, we invested heavily in research, studied the science, developed our Longevity Blueprint and created detailed protocols and standard operating procedures.

Dr. Andes and I chose not to open until we felt everything was ready. Because of our own family experiences, we always asked ourselves: would we feel comfortable offering this care to our own parents? Our clients place their trust in us, so quality could not be something we developed along the way. It had to be built into the clinic from the very beginning.

Our approach combines advanced diagnostics, precision medicine and ultra-personalised interventions across three core pillars: physical function, cognitive capacity and emotional health. Beyond the clinic itself, we are building an integrated longevity ecosystem through collaborations with global leaders, including GlycanAge in biological aging science, seca in body composition analysis and NESA World in neuromodulation and brain health.

You mentioned that every part of your longevity ecosystem connects back to the same three pillars: physical function, cognitive capacity and emotional health. Why did you choose these three areas, and why is it so important to address them together rather than in isolation?

Megan C.: We chose these three pillars because they represent the essence of what people truly want as they age. Physical function allows us to move, recover and maintain our independence. Cognitive capacity enables us to learn, remember and make decisions, while emotional health gives us resilience, purpose, meaning and connection.

To us, these pillars are deeply interconnected. Chronic stress can affect wellbeing and physical recovery, while declining physical health can influence confidence, emotional health and cognitive performance. We cannot treat only one pillar because each one affects the others.

Dr. Andes: And just to add to that, cognitive capacity and emotional health are often more difficult to address directly through conventional interventions. We were fortunate to find neuromodulation technology that allows us to work with these areas more effectively. When someone has stronger cognitive capacity and emotional wellbeing alongside good physical function, it brings the whole system together and supports a longer, healthier and more fulfilling life.

Something that comes through strongly in both of your stories is that longevity is not simply about living longer, but about remaining healthier, capable and fulfilled throughout those years.

That is also reflected in your clinic’s philosophy, “Live Longer, Live Better.” What does that mean in practice, particularly when many people still see aging as something they simply have to accept rather than something they can actively influence?

Megan C.: “Live Longer, Live Better” has been our philosophy from day one. For us, it means shifting the conversation from lifespan to healthspan. Many people still believe aging is something that simply happens to us, but science increasingly shows that how we age is influenced by our lifestyle, environment, nutrition, stress, sleep and even our mindset. Longevity is not about chasing immortality or simply trying to avoid wrinkles.

Dr. Andes and I both came from the aesthetics field, and over time, we felt that something was missing. The focus was often only on looking younger, with people becoming increasingly dependent on fillers and other treatments, but that was not what we believed aging well should look like. It should be about preserving what matters most: our ability to think clearly, move freely and enjoy meaningful relationships.

That is why we focus on early intervention, precision diagnostics and personalized medicine. Tools such as GlycanAge can help people understand what is happening inside their bodies and how their biological age may differ from their chronological age. When people can see that clearly, they have a stronger reason to take proactive action and recognise that they can influence the way they age.

Speaking of precision diagnostics and personalized medicine, Longevity Clinic Malaysia offers a wide range of advanced interventions, including Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and EECP. With so many technologies available, how do you determine what each person genuinely needs rather than simply offering the latest treatment?

Dr. Andes: Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy and EECP are only a small part of our complete Longevity Blueprint. We do not believe in a one-size-fits-all approach because every person has different genetics, lifestyle factors, health goals and risk profiles. The first step is always to understand the person before recommending any intervention.

We begin by decoding their biology through their medical history, lifestyle and our 5D Longevity LifeClock, which looks at DNA, epigenetics, the microbiome, functional biomarkers and medical body composition analysis. This allows us to identify the underlying factors affecting someone’s health rather than simply addressing their symptoms. Advanced interventions can be very valuable, but we recommend them only when they are supported by clinical findings and aligned with the individual’s goals.

Our aim is to build an evidence-based plan that combines the right diagnostics, medical technologies, nutrition, movement and lifestyle strategies. Longevity is not about giving the latest technology to everyone; it is about using the right tool, at the right time, for the right person. It is also an ongoing journey: we reassess, measure and track progress, then adapt the plan as the person’s body and needs change.

Your work combines science, diagnostics, and proactive care to optimize the body’s full potential. Where does GlycanAge fit into that approach, especially when it comes to measuring biological age, understanding chronic inflammation, and tracking whether a personalized plan is moving someone in the right direction?

Dr. Andes: GlycanAge has a very special place within our longevity ecosystem. Longevity medicine is moving away from reactive care and towards precision intervention, combining advanced diagnostics with evidence-based strategies to understand how the body is functioning at a biological level. We have seen how GlycanAge can strengthen a comprehensive longevity programme. Megan and I have both taken the test ourselves, and we were amazed to find that we were both biologically younger.

GlycanAge complements our other advanced diagnostics by providing insights into biological aging and chronic low-grade inflammation, or inflammaging. It may reveal changes that are not yet visible through conventional health screening, but what makes it especially valuable is that the result is actionable.

By tracking changes over time, we can assess how nutrition, sleep, stress management, movement, targeted supplementation and hormone optimisation, where appropriate, may be influencing biological age and inflammation. It gives us something measurable to work with, allowing us to refine each person’s plan based on outcomes rather than assumptions.

Looking ahead, what do you hope Longevity Clinic Malaysia will change about how people in Malaysia think about aging, prevention, and long-term health – and what role do tools like GlycanAge play in making that future more measurable and actionable?

Megan C.: Our hope is to change one fundamental belief: that aging is something people must simply accept. That mindset is still very traditional in Malaysia, where many people believe decline is normal, inevitable and beyond their control. We believe healthcare is entering a new era – one focused not only on treating disease, but also on preserving health, preventing decline and optimising human potential. We want people in Malaysia and around the world to see aging not as something inevitable, but as an opportunity to invest in their future health.

Tools such as GlycanAge are important because they bring objectivity and accountability to longevity medicine. They allow people to measure something that was previously invisible and make more informed decisions about their health. My own result showed that I was biologically 19 years younger, which often surprises and motivates our clients. But the result can also give someone a goal: even when their biological age is higher than expected, they can take action, repeat the test over time and see whether their efforts are moving them in the right direction. Our vision goes beyond building a clinic. We want to build a longevity movement that helps people take ownership of their health, embrace prevention and redefine what it means to age.

Dr. Andes: And just to add to that, GlycanAge can be motivating, but it can also be an important wake-up call. Someone may be young, active and eating well, yet still discover that their biological age is older than expected. Human biology is complex, and appearing healthy does not always mean everything is working optimally beneath the surface. Having something measurable helps people recognise when they may need earlier support, choose the right interventions and track their progress over time. That is how we help people live not only longer, but better.

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To learn more about Longevity Clinic Malaysia, its approach and the services it offers, visit the clinic’s website or follow its journey on Instagram.