Rapamycin · research
Rapamycin and the Dog Aging Project: the trial humans are not getting
The Dog Aging Project runs a placebo-controlled rapamycin trial with lifespan as the endpoint, built on a pilot of 10 weeks that reported no clinical side effects. The people taking the same drug are running no trial at all.
What is the Dog Aging Project?
The Dog Aging Project is a study of aging in companion dogs that has run for more than 10 years, since 2014, centered at the University of Washington across a network of veterinary schools. Most of it is observational: an enormous cohort of pet dogs whose owners contribute health, activity and environment data over years.[1]
Inside that cohort sits the interventional piece, the Test of Rapamycin in Aging Dogs. That trial is where the drug appears, and it is the part that matters for anyone reading about rapamycin and longevity.
What is the TRIAD rapamycin trial testing?
Strong human evidence Whether rapamycin prolongs lifespan and improves several healthspan measures in healthy middle-aged dogs, in a parallel-group, double-masked, randomized, placebo-controlled multicenter design.[2] Enrollment runs through participating veterinary schools, with dogs generally seven years or older and above a minimum weight.[3]
Read the design carefully and you see what is unusual about it. Randomization, a placebo and masking remove the expectation effects that ruin self-reported longevity data, and multiple centers remove single-site quirks.
Survival as the primary endpoint
The primary endpoint is survival, not a biomarker standing in for survival. Almost nothing in human longevity research meets that description, which is why the Dog Aging Project matters beyond veterinary medicine.
Will the trial results apply to small dogs?
Not directly: trial sites only enroll dogs of at least 44 pounds, so the eventual answer will describe medium and large dogs, not small breeds.[3] And today no lifespan result exists for any dog, whatever its size.
- What this does not say:
- Enrolment criteria are site-level and may change; the primary endpoint is lifespan, so results take years.
Show the numbers as a table
| When | Event | Detail |
|---|---|---|
| 2009 | Mouse lifespan result | 9% to 14% extension |
| 2014 | Project founded | University of Washington |
| 2017 | Pilot published | 10 weeks, 24 dogs |
| 2025 | Grant rescues TRIAD | $7M, February |
| Pending | Lifespan results | Years away |
Why test rapamycin in dogs instead of mice?
Because a dog ages in our homes, 7 to 10 times faster than we do, so a survival trial can finish. Mice live in controlled facilities with metabolic rates several times ours, a translation problem in every mouse lifespan result, including the landmark rapamycin result that started the field.[4]
Companion dogs sit much closer: they breathe our indoor air, develop the cancer, arthritis, cognitive decline and heart disease we do, and vary in size and genetics like a real population. Their lifespan is short enough that a survival trial can finish, which makes them hard to beat as a bridge to human medicine.
Dogs age very much like we do, they just do it seven to 10 times faster.
What did the 2017 pilot trial find?
Limited evidence Better heart function and no clinical side effects over 10 weeks: in older dogs, short-term dosing improved echocardiographic measures, including fractional shortening, against placebo. Ejection fraction moved the same way but missed statistical significance.[5]
That is a genuinely encouraging safety and feasibility signal, and it is worth being precise about its limits. Small sample, ten weeks, surrogate cardiac measures rather than survival or disease incidence. It justified running the larger trial.
Show the numbers as a table
| Measure | Value |
|---|---|
| Placebo | 8 dogs |
| 0.05 mg/kg | 5 dogs |
| 0.1 mg/kg | 10 dogs |
It did not preempt its result.
Why did the rapamycin trial nearly lose its funding?
Federal support lapsed in early 2025, and the trial was at real risk before a seven million dollar private grant arrived to continue it.[6]
That episode says something about the field. A study whose value depends entirely on running to completion is exactly the kind that conventional grant cycles handle badly. Long-horizon aging research is structurally fragile, which is one reason so much of the evidence base is short-term surrogate measures rather than survival.
Can I get rapamycin for my dog?
Only from a veterinarian, off-label, as an unapproved use in that species. Some practices will prescribe it and some compounding pharmacies dispense it, and there is a visible market of owners doing this outside any trial.[7]
The argument against is the same one that applies to humans, only sharper: the trial exists because the answer is unknown, the animal cannot consent, and dosing outside the study generates no data for anyone. Our page on rapamycin for dogs goes through the veterinary picture, including what is known about tolerability.
What would a dog result mean for people?
If the dogs live longer, it becomes the first controlled survival result for this drug in a large, genetically diverse mammal sharing our environment. That would be the strongest evidence the field has ever had, and it would still not be a human result.
If they do not, it would be the most informative negative in the field. Either way the contrast is uncomfortable: the dogs have a survival endpoint, while humans taking the same compound have no control group, registry or endpoint. Our main evidence guide and our page on what the dose changes cover the human side.
Frequently asked questions
Can rapamycin help dogs with aging?
That is the question the trial exists to answer, and it has not been answered. The Test of Rapamycin in Aging Dogs is a randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial testing whether the drug prolongs lifespan and improves healthspan measures in healthy middle-aged dogs. Until it reports, the honest answer is that nobody knows.
Is the Dog Aging Project legitimate?
Yes. It is a long-term study of canine aging centered at the University of Washington, founded in 2014, running through university veterinary schools with published protocols and peer-reviewed design papers. Its funding has been precarious, which is a different problem from legitimacy.
What are the side effects of rapamycin in dogs?
The 2017 pilot trial of short-term dosing reported no clinical side effects compared with placebo. That was a small study over ten weeks, so it establishes short-term tolerability rather than long-term safety, which is precisely what the larger trial is designed to measure.
Can I get rapamycin for my dog?
Only through a veterinarian, as an off-label prescription. Some veterinary practices will write for it and some compounding pharmacies dispense it. It is not an over-the-counter product and it is not approved for use in dogs by any regulator.
Why test the drug in dogs at all?
Because dogs are an unusually good model: they live in human homes, share our environment, develop the same age-related diseases, and have a lifespan short enough that a trial can finish. A mouse result is far from a person. A dog result is closer.
What did the earlier pilot study find?
A randomized controlled trial of short-term dosing in older dogs reported measurable improvements in echocardiographic measures of heart function, including fractional shortening, while ejection fraction narrowly missed significance, alongside no clinical adverse effects. Interesting, small, and not a lifespan result.
How long will the trial take?
Years. Lifespan is the primary endpoint in dogs that begin the trial in middle age, which means the study runs until enough of the cohort has been followed to the end of life. That timeline is why interim healthspan measures matter so much.
Which dogs qualify?
Broadly, healthy companion dogs at least seven years old, above a minimum weight, enrolled through participating veterinary schools. Eligibility criteria and enrollment status are set by the project itself and change over time.
Did the project nearly shut down?
It came close. Federal funding lapsed and the trial was at genuine risk before a seven million dollar private grant rescued it in early 2025. That episode is a reminder that long-horizon aging research is fragile in a way short-horizon research is not.
Does a dog result apply to people?
Better than a mouse result and not automatically. Dogs share our environment and disease profile, which removes some of the objections to rodent work. They are still a different species with different metabolism, and dose translation remains an assumption.
What dose do the dogs receive?
Low intermittent dosing rather than the daily immunosuppressive regimen, following the same reasoning as human off-label use. Specific amounts are set by protocol and body weight, and are a matter for the trial and for any prescribing veterinarian rather than for owners.
Are there results yet?
No lifespan results. Design and rationale papers are published, the pilot work is published, and interim healthspan analyses are expected before any survival conclusion. Anyone claiming the project has already shown dogs living longer is ahead of the data.
Should I give my healthy dog rapamycin now?
That is a conversation with a veterinarian who knows the animal, not a decision to make from a webpage. The case for waiting is straightforward: the trial exists because the answer is unknown, and giving an unapproved immunosuppressant to a healthy animal outside a trial produces no data and carries real risk.
How is this different from human rapamycin use?
It is more rigorous: the dogs are in a randomized, placebo-controlled, double-masked trial with a lifespan endpoint. The humans taking it are an uncontrolled, unregistered group with no endpoint at all. The animals are getting better science than the people.
References
7 sources, all link-checked; oldest check
- Test of Rapamycin in Aging Dogs (TRIAD): study design and rationale. Coleman AE, Creevy KE et al. GeroScience 2025;47(3):2851–2877.Double-masked, placebo-controlled, multicenter; lifespan + healthspan endpoints in companion dogs.Verified Sep 15, 2026
- Rapamycin and the TRIAD trial in companion dogs. Dog Aging Project.Verified Sep 15, 2026
- A randomized controlled trial to establish effects of short-term rapamycin treatment in 24 middle-aged companion dogs. Urfer SR et al. GeroScience 2017;39(2):117-127.24 dogs completed (8 placebo, 5 at 0.05 mg/kg, 10 at 0.1 mg/kg, 1 misdosed), minimum 18 kg and 6 years, mean age 9.7; dosed three times weekly for 10 weeks; fractional shortening improved (p=0.036) and E/A ratio improved (p=0.029), while ejection fraction did NOT reach significance (p=0.058); MCV fell (p=0.012); no clinical side effects reported.Verified Sep 15, 2026
- $7M grant rescues dog study investigating rapamycin for canine aging. American Veterinary Medical Association, 26 February 2025.NIH grant expanding TRIAD; primary endpoint lifespan, secondary endpoints physical function.Verified Sep 15, 2026
- Dog Aging Project Test of Rapamycin in Aging Dogs (TRIAD). Cummings School of Veterinary Medicine, Tufts University.Enrolment restricted to companion dogs of at least 44 pounds, which excludes small breeds from the trial evidence base.Verified Sep 15, 2026
- Rapamycin fed late in life extends lifespan in genetically heterogeneous mice. Harrison DE et al. Nature 2009;460:392–395.9–14% mouse lifespan extension started mid-life.Verified Sep 15, 2026
- Rapamycin for the treatment of cancer in dogs. Ethos Discovery.Notes rapamycin has poor intestinal absorption in dogs when given orally, a pharmacokinetic constraint absent from consumer marketing.Verified Sep 15, 2026
Every link above is re-requested on a schedule by an automated checker; the date shown is when it last answered. Publishers that block automated requests are marked as such rather than reported broken. Our editorial standards explain how a source gets cited here in the first place.
Filed by the Rapamycin.store evidence desk. Each source is re-checked when the page is reviewed.
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