Today, Wellness Eternal unveils the October 2026 Wellness Index Report, 'Built to Last: The Engineering of Healthspan.' This month's issue looks at the growing shift from hoping for a longer, healthier life to engineering one. The report highlights three experts from The Wellness Index Report Podcast, each addressing a unique aspect of the aging process.
The report comes the same month as World Menopause Day (October 18). The report delves into whether aging occurs in distinct phases and how we might proactively design for future stages.
Featured in the October 2026 Report
Dr. Steven A. Garan, PhD, UC Berkeley CREA (Aging Science & Healthspan)
Dr. Garan is the Director of Bioinformatics at the Center for Research & Education on Aging (CREA) at the University of California, Berkeley, and a researcher at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory. He coined the word "phenomics" and played a major role in developing the Automated Imaging Microscope System (AIMS). His work centers on the hypothalamus, which he sees as the brain's master clock for life's biggest milestones, from adolescence to menopause. On the podcast, he explained why he sees aging as a program driven by the brain rather than simple wear and tear.
John Whitman, Nexus Health (Precision Medicine & AI)
Whitman, Co-Founder and Chief Innovation Officer of Nexus Health, spent more than a decade building systems where failure was not an option, including his role as Principal Systems Engineer at SpaceX, where he built infrastructure for launch systems, the Starlink network and Starbase. Nexus Health brings DNA, lab results and intake data together so clinicians can see how the clues connect across the body. Every finding comes with its reasoning, and nothing reaches a patient without clinician review. The platform is HIPAA compliant and SOC 2 Type 2, with zero data mining.
David Horinek, Celliant (Infrared Textiles & Materials Science)
Horinek is the inventor of Celliant, the mineral-infused textile technology that captures the body's own heat and returns it as infrared energy, and co-founder of Hologenix. The idea began in the 1990s while he was looking for a way to support his grandmother's mobility. In 2002 he and Seth Casden founded Hologenix, and Celliant is now woven into apparel, bedding and recovery products from brands around the world. His conversation with Lindsay O'Neill-O'Keefe arrives on The Wellness Index Report Podcast in November.
Three Trends Shaping Healthspan
The report identifies three signals in wellness this month:
Aging as a program, not just wear and tear. Research is moving toward the brain and the hormones it governs, along with why aging appears to speed up in midlife and during menopause.
AI that connects the dots. Precision health is moving toward AI that reasons across genetics, labs and history, with explainable findings and the clinician in control.
Wellness woven into everyday life. Consumers are embracing products that work quietly in the background, from sleepwear and bedding to recovery apparel.
Profiles for each featured expert are now available on the Wellness Index, enabling the public to explore their work, leave reviews, and view upcoming events.
The full October 2026 Wellness Index Report is available at: https://www.wellnessindexreport.com/indexreports/wellness-index-report-october-2026
