Scientists scramble to keep dog aging project alive

The National Institute on Aging may drop funding for a yearlong study of nearly 50,000 pet dogs that could also offer insight into human health.

In late 2019, scientists began seeking 10,000 Americans willing to enroll their pets in an ambitious new study of health and longevity of dogs. The researchers planned to follow the dogs throughout their lives, collecting detailed information about their bodies, lifestyle and home environments. Over time, scientists hoped to identify the biological and environmental factors that kept some dogs healthy during their golden years - and uncover insights about aging that could help dogs and humans live longer and healthier.

Today, the Dog Aging Project has recruited 47,000 dogs and counting, and the data is starting to pour in. Scientists say they're just getting started.

“We view the Dog Aging Project as an ongoing project, so recruitment is ongoing,” Daniel Promislow said , biogerontologist at the University of Washington and co-director of the project. “There will always be new questions to ask. We always want to have dogs of all ages participating. »

But Dr Promislow and his colleagues now face the prospect that the Dog Aging Project could see its own life cut short. short. About 90% of the study's funding comes from the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health, which has provided more than $28 million since 2018. But that money will run out in June, and the institute won't doesn't seem likely. to approve the researchers' recent request for a five-year grant renewal, the scientists say.

“We were told informally that the grant would not be funded," said Matt Kaeberlein, the other director of the Dog Aging Project and a former biogerontology researcher at the University of Washington. (Dr. Kaeberlein is now chief executive of Optispan, a health technology company.)

A spokeswoman for the National Institute on Aging said the N.I.H. does not comment on the decision-making process for individual grant applications. p>

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