Leslie Kenny is an Oxford-based entrepreneur born in California and a graduate of
Berkeley and Harvard Business School. In her 30s, her life changed dramatically when
she was diagnosed with an array of autoimmune conditions – lupus, rheumatoid
arthritis and hypothyroidism. Her doctors told her there was no cure and they could
only be managed with strong immunosuppressants. This didn’t sit right with her.
Coming from a Taiwanese background, she was raised with the mentality that it’s best
to work with your body’s innate wisdom to heal itself. Why would she suppress her
immune system rather than support it in its natural abilities? On a quest to revive her
own health, she went back to school at the Institute for Integrative Nutrition in NYC.
Her passion for health optimization grew and her career took an exciting and
unexpected turn when she moved to Oxford and began working with Oxford University scientists and doctors. As well as becoming a certified health coach, Leslie began helping scientists at
leading European universities, including the University of Oxford, to raise money for
their health discoveries. It was at a meeting with one such scientist that she learned
of a natural compound called spermidine, found in a Japanese fermented soybean
dish called natto. Spermidine showed great promise in supporting healthy aging with
its ability to induce autophagy, our body’s cellular renewal process that slows as we
age. The science was compelling – scientists were calling it ‘an anti-aging vitamin’’ –
and it was safe. However, because it was a natural and food-derived compound, not a
drug that would bring in more money, no one was interested in promoting it.
Leslie tried (and struggled) to find natto in the US, and when she did come across it,
she realized with its seriously sticky texture and funky taste and smell, that it wasn’t
for the faint-hearted! Spotting the unmet need for an alternative to natto, she
decided to bring a highly concentrated spermidine supplement to the US market. With
the support of the esteemed University of Oxford scientists and doctors that make up
our Board of Scientific and Clinical Advisors, she launched Oxford Healthspan with its
flagship product, the plant-derived spermidine supplement, Primeadine®.
Today, at age 58, Leslie has reversed her autoimmune conditions and is living proof
that we can get better with age, so long as we take responsibility for our health and
tap into our body’s natural healing abilities.