Alan A. Cohen, PhD @ Columbia | Rethinking Health and Aging I Chair in Biological Complexity and Healthy Longevity
New York, New York
Joined July 2020
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Axolotls can regrow parts of their own brain. Their mortality rate doesn't rise with age. Epigenetic clocks can't tell an old one from a young one.
So why are most of them dead by 13?
Dug into the paradox with the researcher who studies it, Maximina Yun: scienceofhealth.substack.com…
My postdoc's CV wasn't strong when he applied. I took him on anyway.
Turned out the thing that looked like a weakness, Maximilien Franck, moving too slowly to keep up with how fast the field wants papers out was the reason his work held up.
Wrote about it in my substack: scienceofhealth.substack.com…
I'm the guest on the new episode of @PBtScience.
We get into why "aging" might not be one clear biological process, plus aikido and my old advisor's champagne tradition.
Thanks to @PhDMarie for such a wonderful conversation.
Link: peoplebehindthescience.com/d…
Someone once told that me my hypothesis aging as accumulating entropy isn't "real science" because it's not falsifiable.
Got me asking: is falsifiability really the right line between science and non-science? Popper thought so. I'm not convinced.
Part 1/2: open.substack.com/pub/scienc…
Japanese has no single word for "water" — mizu (cold) vs. oyu (hot).
English has no single word for "rodent" — mouse vs. rat, even though they're close cousins genetically.
Every language has exactly one word for aging. Is that why we assume it's one process?
Part 3 of 3, wrapping up the series. open.substack.com/pub/scienc…
In 2020 I ran a survey among aging researchers to see if we agreed on what "aging" means.
We didn't. We barely agreed on anything except that we disagreed.
Try defining it yourself: is a tree "aging" when it dies from being tall enough to get hit by lightning?
Part 1 of 3, new today.
Link: scienceofhealth.substack.com…
Last week on Dynamic Entropy substack we posted: Health Is a Plateau, Not a Mountain.
Part 1 questions the picture.
Part 2 follows the consequences.
Maybe the map matters more than we think.
Read the full essays on my substack:
scienceofhealth.substack.com…
open.substack.com/pub/scienc…
The ultimate biohacker has:
a magnificent spreadsheet,
a fully charged wearable,
a terrifying supplement shelf,
and absolutely no time to enjoy being alive.
At some point, the pursuit of health can become another stressor.
Read the full essay on my substack:
open.substack.com/pub/scienc…
Health may be a lot more simpler than we give it credit for.
Read the rationale and science on my substack: scienceofhealth.substack.com…
Rather than turning your life into a complicated spreadsheet of protocols.
Start with the biggest problems first.
Read the full essay on my substack: open.substack.com/pub/scienc…
Part 2 of "Health Is a Plateau, Not a Mountain" is now available on Dynamic Entropy.
This post tackles: what should we actually do with this idea. The essence although seemingly to simple is likely more beneficial.
Read the full essay here: scienceofhealth.substack.com…
Alan A. Cohen, PHD I Rethinking Health and Aging retweeted
I'm not surprised that the popularity of the carnivore diet is losing steam. It never was a durable solution for most people.
Ultimately, part of what people were experiencing were the benefits of an elimination diet. But that doesn’t mean a zero-plant diet is optimal long term.
We’re already seeing that play out. Many of the loudest carnivore advocates are starting to add back fruit, vegetables, and other whole foods.
Question for clinicians, scientists, and health obsessives of all varieties:
What metaphor do you think most quietly shapes modern health culture?
A machine?
A dashboard?
A mountain?
A bank account?
A garden?
The metaphor matters because it decides what we notice, what we measure, and what we think counts as progress.
This week’s essay on Dynamic Entropy is about one metaphor I think deserves serious reconsideration. open.substack.com/pub/scienc…
Health advice often assumes there is always a higher point to reach.
But whats if that ever reaching climb is a falsehood.
Part 1 of "Health Is a Plateau, Not a Mountain" is now live on Dynamic Entropy.
Read the full essay here:
open.substack.com/pub/scienc…
Registration is now open for Biology of Aging Symposium V 2026: The Possibilities of Aging and Health.
Nov 1–3, 2026 | Montréal
Aging biology is moving beyond single pathways and simple clocks.
This symposium brings together leading researchers to explore aging through complexity, resilience, entropy, biological dynamics, AI, the exposome, centenarians, and the science of health.
The goal: rethink what aging is — and what health can be.
Save your seat and Register Now: event.fourwaves.com/bas2026/…
Part 1 of "Health Is a Plateau, Not a Mountain" is now live on Dynamic Entropy. It is about health, optimization, ranges, and why the image in our heads may matter more than we think.
Read the full essay here: open.substack.com/pub/scienc…
Cautious about claims that aging can be solved by manipulating one mechanism.
The body rarely works in isolation.
Read the full essay on Dynamic Entropy, and subscribe if you want the next one. scienceofhealth.substack.com…
Development may look like a program but aging sure does not.
Aging is messier.
Cells, tissues, systems, and individuals become more different from one another over time.
A better way to think about aging may be as the gradual accumulation of disorder in a complex system trying to maintain stability.
Read the full essay on Dynamic Entropy, and subscribe if you want the next one.
scienceofhealth.substack.com…