Test of Rapamycin in Aging Dogs (TRIAD)
TRIAD is a parallel-group, double-masked, randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial that will test whether rapamycin prolongs lifespan and improves healthspan metrics in healthy, middle-aged, large-breed dogs recruited from Dog Aging Project participants. The hypothesis is that a one-year course of weekly low-dose rapamycin (0.15 mg/kg once weekly) can increase lifespan, improve heart and cognitive function and reduce age-related disease incidence. Enrolment began in June 2021, dogs are seen every six months at one of seven US veterinary teaching hospitals, and no results have been reported.
Record
| Design | randomized controlled trial |
|---|---|
| Status | ongoing |
| Setting | client owned |
| Intervention | Rapamycin (weekly low-dose) |
| Intervention class | drug |
| Comparator | placebo |
| Dose regimen | Weekly low-dose rapamycin; the rapamycin treatment group receives a cumulative dose of 0.15 mg/kg administered once weekly (as described in the 2023 Texas A&M trial report) |
| Duration | One-year course of weekly rapamycin; lifespan and healthspan endpoints |
| Age | Healthy, middle-aged dogs |
| Other | Large-breed dogs recruited from Dog Aging Project participants; privately owned; seen every six months at one of seven US veterinary teaching hospitals |
| Primary outcome | Lifespan, plus healthspan metrics (heart and cognitive function, age-related disease incidence) |
| Lead organisation | Dog Aging Project (multicenter; seven US veterinary teaching hospitals) |
| Start year | 2021 |
| Tags | rapamycin, lifespan, healthspan, dog-aging-project, multicenter, ongoing |
Notes: Design paper only; no results reported. A National Institute on Aging-constituted data and safety monitoring board oversees the trial; the funder is not stated in the abstracts (the Dog Aging Project is supported by NIA U19 AG057377 per the 2023 Texas A&M paper's funding statement). The once-weekly 0.15 mg/kg dose and the June 2021 enrolment start come from the 2023 Texas A&M paper and the 2022 Nature design paper respectively, not from the TRIAD design abstract. No registry id is given in these sources.
Sources and verbatim quotes
Test of Rapamycin in Aging Dogs (TRIAD): study design and rationale for a prospective, parallel-group, double-masked, randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial of rapamycin in healthy middle-aged dogs from the Dog Aging Project. (2025) PMID 39951177 (design)
The Test of Rapamycin In Aging Dogs (TRIAD) randomized clinical trial is a parallel-group, double-masked, randomized, placebo-controlled, multicenter trial that will test the ability of rapamycin to prolong lifespan and improve several healthspan metrics in healthy, middle-aged dogs recruited from Dog Aging Project participants.
Here, we describe the rationale, design, and goals of the TRIAD randomized clinical trial, the first rigorous test of a pharmacologic intervention against biological aging with lifespan and healthspan metrics as endpoints to be performed outside of the laboratory in any species.
An open science study of ageing in companion dogs. (2022) PMID 35110758 (design)
carrying out a randomized, double-masked, placebo-controlled study to determine the effects of rapamycin on lifespan and healthspan in large-breed, middle-aged dogs
We will test the hypothesis that a one-year course of weekly low-dose rapamycin can increase lifespan, improve heart and cognitive function, and reduce age-related disease incidence in middle-aged, large-breed dogs. Enrolment into TRIAD began in June 2021 and will continue through 2022.
Owners of TRIAD dogs bring their dogs to one of seven US veterinary teaching hospitals every six months, where the samples are collected and the dog’s cardiac health and function are also assessed.
a National Institute on Aging-constituted data and safety monitoring board oversees the TRIAD trial
As this is a community science project and all study subjects are privately owned dogs
A masked, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial evaluating safety and the effect on cardiac function of low-dose rapamycin in 17 healthy client-owned dogs. (2023) PMID 37275618 (design)
our group is conducting a larger masked, placebo-controlled, randomized clinical trial (the Test of Rapamycin in Aging Dogs) in which the rapamycin treatment group will receive a higher cumulative dose (0.15 mg/kg) administered once weekly
Reproduce: canine_trial_search(trial_id="triad-rapamycin") in dog-geroscience-mcp; dataset canine-trial-registry.