Science’s Best Friend

Before an aging dog can enter one of the most ambitious clinical trials of canine longevity, its medical history has to withstand careful scrutiny.

For Dr. Mary Iannaccone (DVM ’08), that means reviewing records for potentially eligible dogs and assessing everything from age, weight and spay/neuter status to medications, chronic conditions, laboratory values, behavior and vaccination history.

Iannaccone is one of two veterinarians on the medical-record team for TRIAD—the Test of Rapamycin in Aging Dogs. The randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial is part of the Dog Aging Project, a research collaboration led by Texas A&M University, the University of Washington and Tufts University. Iowa State’s College of Veterinary Medicine is one of the project’s clinical trial partners

Iannaccone, who has worked primarily in the western United States since graduating from Iowa State, brings the perspective of a general practitioner to a multidisciplinary team investigating one of the most fundamental questions in veterinary medicine: Can we help dogs live longer, healthier lives.

Her work begins with the medical record.

“I often reach out to owners directly to clarify whether past medical conditions have resolved, whether they are willing to commit to year-round heartworm prevention, or to update an overdue vaccination,” Iannaccone said.

Those seemingly routine conversations can lead to meaningful connections. Owners sometimes respond with photos of their dogs, offering a glimpse into the relationships that make companion-animal medicine so distinctive.

“Owners will send me heartwarming photos of their dog, reminding me of the human- animal bond,” she said.

Once she has reviewed the necessary information, Iannaccone compiles a potentially eligible dog’s medical history into a checklist. She then meets remotely with the TRIAD veterinary team each week to discuss potential candidates, enrollment decisions and the health of dogs already participating in the study.

TRIAD is designed to evaluate the effects of rapamycin on healthspan and lifespan in aging dogs. Researchers are particularly interested in whether the drug can influence age-related changes in areas such as cardiac health, mobility and cognitive function.

For Iannaccone, participating in the study offers a chance to work alongside veterinary specialists while bringing a general-practice perspective to the research.

“I pinch myself that I have been able to be a part of this project,” she said. “Our veterinary team, made up of internists, neurologists, cardiologists, criticalists, and pharmacologists, is such a wealth of knowledge and expertise, and I feel like a sponge on our weekly calls.”

Iannaccone also contributes something that cannot be learned solely from a textbook or laboratory: the practical perspective of caring for patients and working with their owners.

As a general practitioner, she can help explain the nuances of everyday veterinary medicine and the rationale behind treatment decisions that take into account an owner’s preferences, circumstances and limitations. That perspective is particularly valuable in a clinical trial involving client-owned dogs living in the real world.

The dogs enrolled in TRIAD receive extensive monitoring, including examinations and bloodwork every six months for three years, along with cardiac or neurologic examinations. There is no cost to the owner, and primary care veterinarians receive the dogs’ medical records and remain part of their care team.

“TRIAD dogs are monitored very carefully,” Iannaccone said. “We ensure that primary care veterinarians receive all medical records and are part of the care team. We take the care and health of our enrolled dogs very seriously and are committed to them and their owners.”

That close monitoring is more than a benefit to individual patients. It also reflects the larger scientific potential of studying aging in dogs.

Dogs develop many naturally occurring diseases associated with aging, live alongside humans and share much of our environment. At the same time, their shorter lifespans allow researchers to study the progression of age-related disease—and potential interventions—on a much more practical timescale.

The knowledge generated by TRIAD and the broader Dog Aging Project could ultimately contribute to our understanding of healthy aging in both dogs and people.

“The hope is that we will take the data we learn about healthy aging in dogs, as well as the effect of rapamycin on cardiac and cognitive function and lifespan, and apply it to humans,” Iannaccone said. “Most of us have a family member or friend who has been directly impacted by cardiovascular disease or cognitive decline. The canine serves as an incredible model for human disease due to similarities in disease processes and the ability to live in the same environment, with a significantly shorter lifespan, thereby enabling the study to be completed much faster.”

For veterinarians, the distinction between lifespan and healthspan is an important one.

Adding years matters only if those years can be lived with mobility, cognition, good health and quality of life.

That is ultimately what Iannaccone hopes the research can accomplish—not simply helping dogs live longer, but helping them enjoy more healthy years with the people who love them.

“I want to see my patients live longer, but quality lives.”

September 2026