Great Danes and Grandads: How the Companion Dog Is Moving the Needle in Longevity Interventions

Speaker:

Nicole Ehrhart, VMD, MS, DACVS 

Event date: 24 May 2023 Lausanne, Switzerland 

Knowledge of the cellular mechanisms that drive aging and the various strategies that slow or reverse these cellular changes has advanced tremendously. Yet little to no translation of that information into widespread longevity interventions for human or veterinary patients has occurred. 

Current laboratory animal models do not precisely mimic spontaneous diseases of aging, which leaves health care professionals “stuck” in a translational chasm. Effective translation of scientific advances in geoscience into widely available interventions will require scientists to shift from the deeply entrenched “mouse-to-man" experimental paradigm to identify mechanisms of cellular aging with the highest likelihood of successful translation into interventions that extend human and companion animal healthspan. 

Comparative geroscience and One Health approaches can both inform and accelerate approval and widespread use of healthspan interventions.