Taneesa Williamson Changing the future of wellness, and providing a solution to the worldwide ageing epidemic.
Wellness Access Institute (WAI, pronounced ‘why’) is a non-for-profit organisation that aims to position itself as the leading authority and innovation accelerator in the wellness industry. Established in June 2022 by Greg Macpherson and Warren Liu, WAI aims to solve some of the industry’s biggest problems. Whether it’s predicting the future of the industry, educating consumers on the science, addressing the trust deficit created by untrustworthy sellers (citizen scientists) or tackling issues with supply chain quality and speed to market for products.
Warren Liu & Greg Macperhson have founded the Wellness Access Institute to support the global wellness industry to overcome challenges by fostering a collaborative approach to benefit the health of the human race.
The fast-growing global health & wellness industry is now worth US$1.5 trillion and is projected to grow at a rate of 5-10% per year. While every company rushes to bring new products to market to take a slice of the revenue opportunity, consumers are faced with a different dilemma. What innovations or brands can they trust? Which products are genuinely backed by science-based evidence and real-world proof? What actions can they take now to support their long term health and wellness? And how can they get a hold of the latest cutting edge research and solutions sooner?
“WAI’s goal is to establish an independent non-for-profit industry body to serve the broader industry. WAI aims to enforce, advance and advocate the wellness movement to benefit the health of the human race. The idea came to me and my co-founder Greg given our work together on launching the SRW Cellular Health brand. We realised a number of issues in bringing genuine innovation to market with a lack of platforms, information and support for those that haven’t been through the process before. It’s from this realisation that we had the idea to create a solution”.
Warren Liu, Co-Founder of WAI
Ahead of the launch, Warren and Greg have been able to establish an initial advisory board featuring some of the best minds from across the industry. “With our advisory board we hope to answer the what, why and how of the industry in a way that helps accelerate the wellness movement globally” says Greg Macpherson, Co-Founder of WAI. “Along with solving some of the key industry issues; this advisory board will work on their collective 2030 vision for wellness and support with the latest scientific research”.
The wellness advisory board features 8 prominent individuals: From Aubrey Levitt the founder of microbiome startup ‘Postbiotics Plus’, to Dr. Matt Yousefzadeh who has published over 30 scientific publications to Michael Heinam, who has secured patent applications and contracts with leading universities and researchers, in over 145 countries around the world.
The WAI accelerator program will also be a critical ignition tool for change. The industry is known for its red tape and often our best scientists take years to bring the latest innovations to people who need them, let alone in a way that is accessible and affordable. – Warren Liu, Co-Founder of WAI
Warren Liu added: “Ultimately this diverse panel is what makes WAI different. It’s no longer just businessmen and scientists trying to create new products to sell. It’s an open dialogue and vision setting agenda involving people at every stage of the journey and starts with making knowledge on the primary factors for wellness accessible to all.”
WAI will drive impact by building trust and transparency, provide speed & access to the latest innovations, advocate for education and stronger policies within government, build more sustainable and ethical practices, and raise general awareness through leadership with a focus on modern media.
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