On December 26th, 2024, The Guardian published an article featuring insights from AFAR President Thomas A. Rando, MD, PhD, as well as AFAR Grantees Jamie Justice, PhD, and Daniel Promislow, DPhil, on the potential benefits of studying animal longevity for the future of therapeutics to extend human healthspan.
Dr. Promislow shared insights from the Dog Aging Project, which he co-founded with fellow AFAR grantee Matt Kaeberlin, PhD. The project is exploring the effects of different therapeutics, soon to include Rapamycin, on canine longevity and healthspan, helping to advance our understanding of aging and its potential implications on human healthspan. He stated, “If we’re successful with dogs, it could be a turning point in informing us how to give human populations extra healthy lifespan too.”
Dr. Rando emphasized the significance of this research, noting, “This work is one more piece in the puzzle that we hope will eventually give us a complete picture of human longevity.”
Dr. Justice cautioned that translating longevity research from animals to humans could still be challenging without a universally agreed-upon human biomarker for aging, which would help demonstrate the impact of therapeutics.
Dr. Justice is a 2016 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellowships in Aging Research recipient and the 2022 recipient of the Vincent Cristofalo Rising Star Award in Aging Research.
Dr. Promislow is a 1998 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research and AFAR Grants for Junior Faculty recipient and a 2010 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Breakthroughs in Gerontology (BIG) Award recipient.
Dr. Dudley Lamming is a 2015 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research and AFAR Research Grant for Junior Faculty recipient.
In addition to being the President of AFAR’s Board of Directors, Dr. Rando is a 2008 Glenn Foundation for Medical Research Breakthroughs in Gerontology (BIG) Award recipient, and a 1999 Paul B. Beeson Emerging Leaders Career Development Award in Aging recipient.
For more expert-backed insights on the link between human aging and canine longevity, see our Live Better Longer Webinar on The Dog Aging Project here.
Read the article, “Scientists explore longevity drugs for dogs that could also ‘extend human life’” here.
