Nutrition Insight speaks with Kat Cole, CEO of AG1, and Dr. Justin Siegel, IIFH faculty director and professor of Chemistry, Biochemistry, and Molecular Medicine at UC Davis, about how the collaboration will drive a paradigm shift in metabolic health.
“There’s a historical gap between industry and academic research,” Cole tells us. “What makes this partnership interesting is that AG1 has the scale and platform to use this work, because we’re leaning into science-backed nutrition, but we also have the desire to story tell the science — we are an amplifier of existing research.”
Cole says that she prefers partners who push back and maintain rigorous standards. “This is a heavyweight partnership with a heavyweight institution in this space, with a high degree of reputational responsibility.”
Siegel underscores that science and business are deeply integrated. “Good science is good business, and good business is good science.”
Siegel highlights that in his conversations with companies, he underscores that UC Davis reserves the right “to publish what we find — the good, the bad, and the ugly.”
“Some companies walk away from that. The ones that stay are the ones we want to work with, who are genuinely interested in making better products for people.”
