Dr. José Navarro Betancourt
José Navarro Betancourt, MD, PhD is the Scientific Director at quadraScope Ventures, a venture capital firm focused on early-stage companies developing biological age reversal technologies, and a Researcher specializing in podocyte proteostasis and glomerular diseases with over 10 years of experience in biomedical research and healthcare investment.
He is committed to translating scientific innovations into practical solutions that enhance human healthspan, serving as a bridge between cutting-edge longevity science and venture capital investment.
José leads due diligence efforts for prospective investments, manages portfolio companies, conducts market research, and hosts a YouTube channel where he interviews key opinion leaders and CEOs in the longevity field, providing insights into how companies are solving biological aging challenges.
As Scientific Director at quadraScope, José evaluates early-stage healthcare companies developing pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, software, equipment, and devices enabling disease treatment and prevention through biological age reversal. Since the fund’s founding in 2022, quadraScope has invested in 17 portfolio companies including Repair Biotechnologies, Immunis, ADvantage Therapeutics, BioChange, Vincere Biosciences, and Matter Bio, with investments ranging from seed to Series A stages totaling over $20 million.
José works closely with quadraScope’s advisory board of renowned scientists and business leaders to perform thorough due diligence on each prospective investment, focusing on companies addressing the hallmarks of aging through innovative therapeutic approaches. Read Investing & Lifestyle Principles with Longevity VC.
In January 2025, José spoke at the Longevity Investor Network pre-JPM event in San Francisco, presenting real-life stories about how companies in the quadraScope portfolio are solving biological aging and discussing the future of longevity venture capital. He participated in the RESI South 2024 conference panel on “New, Now, and Next in Longevity Investment,” sharing insights on investment preferences and portfolio management strategies for early-stage longevity companies.
José has conducted interviews with leading figures in the longevity field, including Dr. Aubrey de Grey, Reason of Repair Biotechnologies, Ishay Attar of BioChange Ltd., and Spring Behrouz of Vincere Biosciences, exploring breakthrough therapies in regenerative medicine, gene therapy, and tissue engineering. José’s scientific research has focused on the role of the IRE1α pathway in podocyte proteostasis and glomerular diseases, contributing fundamental insights into kidney disease mechanisms and cellular stress responses.
His doctoral work at McGill University under the supervision of Dr. Andrey V. Cybulsky established the mechanistic role of inositol-requiring enzyme 1α (IRE1α) in maintaining podocyte health and preventing glomerular injury. His research demonstrated that IRE1α coordinates the induction of ER chaperones and autophagy while regulating mitochondrial health, revealing novel non-canonical functions of this critical stress response pathway. Read Role of IRE1α in podocyte proteostasis and mitochondrial health and The IRE1α pathway in glomerular diseases: The unfolded protein response and beyond.
His published research includes groundbreaking studies on reticulophagy, demonstrating that IRE1α promotes selective autophagy of the endoplasmic reticulum through upregulation of Sec23B and RTN3L. In diabetic nephropathy models, his work showed that deletion of IRE1α in podocytes exacerbates disease progression, highlighting the protective role of this pathway in metabolic kidney disease.
José has published over 8 peer-reviewed articles in prestigious journals including Cell Death Discovery, Frontiers in Molecular Medicine, BBA Molecular Basis of Disease, and Scientific Reports. Read The unfolded protein response transducer IRE1α promotes reticulophagy in podocytes and Deletion of IRE1α in podocytes exacerbates diabetic nephropathy in mice.
Beyond his primary research focus, José has contributed to studies on cardiomesenchymal stem cells, adipose tissue-derived stem cells for cardiovascular repair, insulin resistance assessment in adolescents, and the role of calcium-independent phospholipase A2gamma in glomerular injury. His work has been presented at major scientific conferences including the American Society of Nephrology Kidney Week, where he demonstrated that stress-induced chaperone production, autophagy, and mitochondrial health are compromised by deletion of IRE1α in podocytes.
José earned his PhD in Molecular Biology from McGill University in 2021, with his dissertation titled Role of IRE1α in Podocyte Proteostasis examining the mechanistic role of IRE1α in podocyte health and disease. During his doctoral studies, he performed in vivo and in vitro research to understand how the endoplasmic reticulum coordinates mitochondrial metabolism, autophagy, and cellular energy production.
He earned his MD from Universidad Panamericana in Mexico City in 2016, where he completed two years of hands-on clinical internship providing medical care in major hospitals including Centro Médico ABC, Hospital Médica Sur, and Centro Médico Dalinde.
José received prestigious scholarships recognizing his academic excellence, including the Doctoral Scholarship from the Mexican National Council for Science and Technology (CONACYT) in September 2017 and the Merit Scholarship for Foreign Students from Fonds de Recherche du Québec in September 2017. These competitive awards supported his graduate research on protein quality control and cellular stress responses in kidney disease.
Throughout his career, José has bridged the gap between basic science research and clinical applications, with five years in laboratory research and two years of clinical practice giving him valuable knowledge of healthcare and biotechnology. His research has encompassed aging biology, including insulin resistance, stem cell differentiation, protein quality control, and cellular energy production, providing an excellent background for evaluating the scientific foundation of longevity-focused ventures.
José has become a prominent voice in the longevity investment community, regularly speaking at conferences and participating in panels discussing the future of biological age reversal technologies. He has been featured in the Longevity Hackers documentary exploring breakthroughs that have reshaped our understanding of aging and has contributed to advancing the field through his interviews with leading scientists and entrepreneurs developing next-generation therapies for age-related diseases.
Visit his LinkedIn profile, quadraScope profile, ResearchGate profile, and NIH publications page. Follow him on X.