804: The "Beauty Batteries": How Mitochondria Power Your Skin, Hair & Longevity with Courtney Van Bussum
Beauty Bytes with Dr. Kay: Secrets of a Plastic Surgeon™
Kay Durairaj, MD, FACS @beautybydrkay
4.9 • 608 Ratings
🗓️ 10 February 2026
⏱️ 45 minutes
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Summary
In this episode of Beauty Bytes, I sit down with Courtney Van Bussum, the Chief Operating Officer of Longevity Launch Labs, an innovation incubator dedicated to translating cutting-edge cellular science into real-world medical solutions. We go way beyond the basics to explore the mitochondria—the ancient, alien-like "batteries" living inside our cells that power everything from our heartbeat to our collagen production .
Courtney explains why mitochondrial dysfunction is actually the root cause of aging symptoms we hate, like brain fog, skin dullness, and even gray hair (did you know gray hair is just your follicle running out of energy to produce pigment?) . We discuss the concept of hormesis—using good stress like exercise and intermittent fasting to make your cells stronger—and why you might need to "starve" your cells at night to help them repair.
We also get into the nitty-gritty of supplementation. We break down why 1-MNA might be safer than aggressive NAD+ IV drips, why creatine isn't just for bodybuilders (it's a brain and beauty super-fuel!), and the emerging world of mitochondrial peptides like SS-31.
Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Well, hello, hello, guys. You're listening to Beauty Bites with Dr. K. Secrets of a Plastic Surgeon, |
| 0:19.9 | and it's time to talk to one of my |
| 0:23.0 | favorite people, Courtney Van Bussam. She is the chief operating officer of longevity launch labs. |
| 0:29.7 | And today's talk is going to be all about the mitochondria, the mighty powerhouse of the cell. |
| 0:35.5 | It's kind of the driver of all energy and reactions. It's the |
| 0:38.8 | fuel that actually powers the ability for DNA to self-repair. And it's important for longevity. |
| 0:46.7 | Now longevity launch labs is a really special thing. It's an innovation incubator accelerating many |
| 0:53.0 | breakthrough products and companies that are |
| 0:55.0 | involved with cellular medicine and longevity medicine. Courtney's background is in biomedical engineering, |
| 1:02.0 | and she has experienced spanning Fortune 500 consulting to running clinical operations. So she's got |
| 1:07.8 | this rare blend of insight between the clinic and actual execution and practice of medicine. |
| 1:13.5 | Before launching this, she modernized operations at Boulder Longevity Institute. |
| 1:18.5 | This is one of the best cellular regenerative medicine clinics around with Dr. Ureth out there. |
| 1:24.9 | Today, she leads Launch Labs mission to translate cutting-edge science into real-world impact. Today, she leads launch labs mission to translate cutting edge science into real world impact. |
| 1:31.6 | And this is what I am so thrilled about because you bring products that are really cutting |
| 1:36.6 | edge longevity medicine into actual practice because mostly we just read about this stuff |
| 1:42.3 | in journals and it's hard to bring into practice. |
| 1:44.4 | But welcome to the podcast, Courtney. |
| 1:47.5 | Thank you, Dr. Kay. |
| 1:48.6 | Thanks for having me back and excited to dive in to just cellular science and why mitochondria |
| 1:54.7 | are so cool. |
| 1:55.9 | I know this came about. |
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