NC State spotlights veterinary gerontology and transplant care
Bottom line
North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine in Raleigh is drawing attention for a distinction the school says no other veterinary center in the world has: the only veterinary gerontology program, now organized through its Center for Healthy Aging in Companion Animals. NC State also says it remains the only veterinary college in the world to offer canine bone marrow transplants, a program first launched in 2008 and later relaunched for dogs with lymphoma. The college ties those capabilities to its broader clinical, research, and teaching mission on its Centennial Biomedical Campus. (hospital.cvm.ncsu.edu)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the story is less about a single headline-grabbing service and more about where companion animal medicine is heading. NC State’s aging-focused center brings together research, clinical care, student training, and continuing education around health span and quality of life in older pets, while its transplant program shows how academic hospitals can translate highly specialized oncology care into clinical practice. As pets live longer, geriatric medicine, palliative support, and advanced referral services are likely to matter more to general practice, specialty care, and pet parent expectations. (cvm.ncsu.edu)
What to watch: Watch for whether NC State’s model leads to more formal geriatric training, clinical trials in aging pets, and wider adoption of longevity-focused services at other veterinary centers. (cvm.ncsu.edu)
Key facts
- Institution
- North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine
- Location
- Raleigh, North Carolina
- Claimed distinction
- World’s only veterinary gerontology program
- Center
- Center for Healthy Aging in Companion Animals
- Another distinction
- Only veterinary college in the world offering canine bone marrow transplants
- Canine transplant launch
- 2008
- Canine transplant indication
- Dogs with lymphoma
- Historical transplant result
- Approximately 35% cure rate in dogs with B-cell lymphoma treated with transplants from 2008 to 2011
- Comparison treatment result
- 0% to 2% with chemotherapy alone
North Carolina State University’s College of Veterinary Medicine is getting renewed attention for a rare claim in veterinary medicine: its Raleigh hospital says it operates the world’s only veterinary gerontology program. The program now sits within NC State’s Center for Healthy Aging in Companion Animals, which the college describes as a hub for research, education, clinical practice, and support for pet parents of aging animals. (hospital.cvm.ncsu.edu)
That positioning didn’t emerge overnight. NC State says the gerontology effort grew from years of faculty work on aging, including DVM electives in gerontology and an endowed chair that helped establish the program as a first-of-its-kind initiative at a U.S. veterinary college. In parallel, the hospital built another distinctive service line in oncology: canine bone marrow transplantation. NC State announced in 2008 that it was the first university in the nation to offer canine bone marrow transplants, and later said it remained the only veterinary college in the world offering the procedure for dogs. (news.ncsu.edu)
Today, the school presents those programs as part of a larger referral and research ecosystem on its Centennial Biomedical Campus in Raleigh. On its hospital services page, NC State highlights more than 30 specialized services and specifically lists “the only veterinary gerontology program in the world.” Its healthy aging center says the mission is to preserve quality of life, extend health span, and support pet parents, while also offering continuing veterinary medical education for professionals. (hospital.cvm.ncsu.edu)
The bone marrow transplant program adds a concrete example of how that academic model can translate into advanced care. When NC State relaunched its canine transplant service for lymphoma, the college reported an approximately 35% cure rate among dogs with B-cell lymphoma treated with transplants from 2008 to 2011, compared with 0% to 2% using chemotherapy alone. Those figures are historical and come from the institution itself, but they help explain why the service has remained a signature offering in veterinary oncology. (cvm.ncsu.edu)
Outside the institution’s own materials, the broader veterinary conversation is starting to catch up with the aging focus. A recent review indexed by PubMed argues that aging in companion dogs and cats should be viewed as modifiable, with attention to biological age, resilience, and health span rather than simple chronological decline. That framing aligns closely with NC State’s center, which emphasizes aging as a clinical and research priority rather than an unavoidable background condition. (pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov)
Why it matters: For veterinary professionals, the bigger signal is that geriatric care is becoming more structured, more data-driven, and more central to companion animal practice. As more pets survive chronic disease and live into older age, referral hospitals and primary care teams may need stronger protocols for mobility, cognition, pain, palliative transitions, caregiver support, and quality-of-life monitoring. NC State has already connected that need to service development, including a transitional care program for terminally ill and aging pets and their pet parents. In practice, that suggests veterinary teams may increasingly be asked not just to treat disease, but to manage health span across the final years of life. (cvm.ncsu.edu)
There’s also an education and workforce angle. NC State says its center supports student training and continuing education, which could matter as the profession debates whether geriatric medicine should become a more visible competency in general practice and specialty referral settings. If aging medicine becomes a larger share of caseload and client demand, academic centers that have already built research pipelines and clinical identity around the issue may have an early advantage in shaping standards and expectations. (cvm.ncsu.edu)
What to watch: The next step is whether NC State’s approach remains a unique institutional calling card or becomes a template others try to replicate, especially through clinical trials, CE programming, and service lines built around longevity, oncology, and end-of-life support. (cvm.ncsu.edu)