From alpine ski racing to Harvard labs, from Olympic athletes to executive boardrooms, Dr. Anna Erat has explored health from every possible angle. As a board member of selected organizations in longevity, AI and med tech, with clinical specializations and teaching appointments in internal and sports medicine, she blends cutting-edge science with real-world insights to redefine how we perform, recover, and age. In this interview, she reveals why female-focused longevity, sports medicine, mitochondrial care, the hormonal cycle, and mindful regeneration are the foundation of a future where health is sustainable, personal, and profoundly human.
From Zurich to Harvard to the World Economic Forum – your career has spanned continents, cultures, and disciplines. How have these diverse experiences shaped your personal definition of health and purpose?
„Studying and working on various continents, including Europe, America and Africa, has deeply broadened my understanding of both health and purpose. Being immersed in such diverse environments taught me that real health and meaningful purpose emerge when individual well-being is aligned with global responsibility. It’s about staying rooted in science while fostering innovation and optimal healthcare.”
In addition, her work with elite athletes and global leaders has reshaped her entire perspective on peak performance. What sets high performers apart, she has found, is not only extraordinary talent, but an unshakable commitment to the basics – done with precision, every single day. Recovery is now considered just as vital as training, while nutrition and mental resilience are seen as essential pillars rather than optional extras. This shows in the way she lives – sleep has a reserved slot in her regimen, even the simplest movement matters, and time for mental clarity and focus is part of her daily rhythm.
Dr. Anna Erat
From elite sports medicine to global health leadership, you’ve worked in largely male-dominated fields. How has your identity as a woman influenced the way you practice, lead, and connect – and what do you believe a truly female-focused longevity model should address?
„Navigating male-dominated space has sharpened both my perspective and my purpose. As a woman, I’ve often had to earn trust through both expertise and empathy, which has arguably deepened my ability to connect with patients and colleagues on a more human level.”
“It’s also made me more attuned to the gaps in how we define and deliver health – particularly for women and some ethnicities, whose needs have historically been underrepresented in research and care.”
Recognizing these gaps, Erat recently joined the Women’s Brain Foundation – an organization that actively promotes female health and precision medicine across policy, research, and clinical practice. For her, closing the gender gap in medicine means more than representation – it’s about redefining the scientific standard. „Medical guidelines should be based on proper clinical trials,” she notes, „yet historically, women have been underrepresented, leading to protocols built primarily on male data.”
One of the most overlooked areas, she says, is the menstrual cycle. Despite its clear physiological significance, it has rarely been taken into account when designing training programs or planning competitions. Yet Erat emphasizes that in the context of personalized precision medicine – which, she believes, must consider both sex and ethnicity – the female hormonal cycle is immensely important, whether we are talking about performance, aging, or long-term brain health.
The expert points out that even injury patterns reflect the impact of hormonal fluctuations, but the implications go far beyond performance. In longevity medicine, mental health, and brain health alike, hormonal cycles and the decline of sex hormones during menopause have a significant effect – particularly in relation to dementia and Alzheimer’s. „We need to be much more attentive to hormones,” she urges – especially as we face the challenges of aging.
Erat also highlights that mitochondrial health, particularly NAD levels, plays a key role in aging and disease prevention.
„Mitochondrial health is one of the hallmarks of aging. NAD and mitochondrial health are equally important to men and women; however, we inherit our mitochondria from our mothers, so as women we have to be mindful that we are responsible for the mitochondrial health of the next generation – our children.”
Dr. Anna Erat
How do sports medicine, epidemiology, and executive education come together in your approach to preventive healthcare?
„Combining sports medicine, epidemiology, and executive education allows me to approach preventive healthcare from multiple, complementary angles. Sports medicine brings a deep understanding of performance, movement, and recovery; epidemiology offers data-driven insights into population health and risk patterns; and executive education equips leaders to scale these insights into systems-level change.”
In her view, the intersection of these three areas creates a powerful framework where prevention isn’t just about avoiding disease – it’s about optimizing function, extending health-span, and empowering individuals and institutions to make informed, proactive choices.
Sports medicine, Erat argues, should be seen as a lifelong approach to health, emphasizing physical resilience, functional mobility, and preventive care. This mindset isn’t confined to athletes, it applies to everyone, particularly as we age and aim for long-term wellness.
In practice, she envisions a shift in how we approach health: movement assessments integrated into regular check-ups, and exercise prescriptions tailored to individual needs, much like medications.
By incorporating strength, balance, and recovery into everyday care, she insists, we can move „from fixing problems to building durability – for everybody, at every stage of life.”
Dr. Anna Erat
In your lectures on healthy leadership, especially to women, what key messages do you emphasize regarding sustainable success and well-being, both physically and mentally?
„Many women consider it to be selfish to focus too much on themselves and their individual health. But it’s not selfish,” says Erat.
„You have to prioritize yourself and your health in order to be productive and to be a successful part of any organization, family or society as a whole.”
She emphasizes that regeneration is just as important as exercise, saying, „Regeneration should be approached just as systematically as the training itself.” The expert also highlights the importance of meaningful relationships: „Eating together, exercising together, and maintaining strong, meaningful social connections are all key predictors of longevity.” Drawing from her own experience as an athlete, she adds, „Sports empower women by building confidence, resilience, and leadership – skills that directly fuel ambition and success in their professional lives.”
Dr. Anna Erat
What’s one key insight you would leave our readers about building a life of health, strength, and meaning?
„While exercising, focus on what you enjoy doing. Combine strength with endurance training ideally as part of HIIT (High-Intensity Interval Training) that alternates short bursts of intense activity with periods of rest or low-intensity movement. Pay attention to regeneration, including nutrition and sleep, just as much as you pay attention to training. Most importantly, however, build and maintain meaningful connections and friendships while having fun. »Enjoy the journey« is a powerful reminder – especially in the context of health and longevity – that progress isn’t just about outcomes, but about being present and intentional with the process.”
Author: Révész Bogi
(Featured image: Dr. Anna Erat)
