In his recent talk at RAADFest 2025, hosted by the Coalition for Radical Life Extension, Dr. Kaeberlein spoke both about the Dog Aging Project and Optispan.

Matt is the co-director of the Dog Aging Project, a large longitudinal study of aging in companion dogs. The primary goals of the project are to understand the biology of aging in dogs and to potentially slow the aging process in these animals. Dogs are a powerful model for studying aging because they experience age-related diseases at a much faster rate than humans, allowing for quicker discoveries.

The Dog Aging Project has engaged over 50,000 dog owners across the United States to participate in the study. The project has several nested cohorts, including a genetics cohort, a systems biology cohort, a dementia study, and an ongoing clinical trial testing the drug rapamycin as a potential longevity intervention. The project has already produced over 70 scientific publications and has made its data freely available to the research community.

Some interesting findings from the Dog Aging Project include the observation that dogs fed once a day appear to have lower risks of age-related diseases compared to dogs fed more frequently, and that cognitive decline in dogs does not seem to be associated with body size, unlike other age-related changes. The rapamycin clinical trial is ongoing, with over 200 dogs enrolled to test whether the drug can slow aging.

In the second half of the talk, Matt talkes about his role as CEO at Optispan, focusing on enabling science-based, proactive approaches to extending healthspan in humans. He argues that the current healthcare system (Medicine 2.0) is not sustainable and that a new model (Medicine 4.0) is needed, one that combines rigorous biomarker testing, personalized interventions, and the use of AI tools to optimize health and longevity.

Matt also cautions against the use of some popular longevity interventions, such as direct-to-consumer microbiome and biological age tests, which he believes are not scientifically validated or actionable. He’s skeptic about the use of certain experimental therapies, such as peptides and gene therapies, where the evidence of efficacy and safety is still lacking. Matt also advocates for more independent data aggregation and discovery science to advance the field of longevity medicine.

If you’re interested in hearing more, you can listen here.