Varun B. Dwaraka | Tru Diagnostic

Dr. Varun B. Dwaraka, Chief Scientific Officer at TruDiagnostic, reveals how epigenetic biomarker proxies (IDPs) are transforming our understanding of health, disease risk, and biological aging.
In this Longevity Summit Dublin talk, Varun explains how DNA methylation data can be repurposed to create precise surrogates for protein, metabolite, and clinical values — unlocking new ways to track healthspan, predict disease, and refine biological age measurement.

Key points covered:

Redefining epigenetic biomarkers with IDPs

The Omic Clock and its predictive power for mortality

How methylation-based biomarkers outperform traditional lab values

Applications in clinical trials, from diet studies to mental health

Using biomarker proxies for deeper mechanistic insights into aging

Collaboration opportunities for researchers and clinicians

Varun shares groundbreaking work currently under review at Nature Aging and offers insights into how these tools can be integrated into both research and clinical settings.

About the speaker:
Varun B. Dwaraka, PhD, is an expert in epigenetics, biomarker development, and precision health. As CSO at TruDiagnostic, he leads the creation of cutting-edge tools to translate DNA methylation science into actionable insights for longevity and disease prevention.

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Chapters
00:00 – Introduction
00:32 – Epigenetic Biomarker Proxies (IDPs) Overview
01:00 – The Science Behind DNA Methylation Biomarkers
02:19 – Moving Beyond Epigenetic Clocks
03:45 – Development of the Omic Clock
04:54 – Predicting Mortality with Epigenetic Data
05:54 – Clinical Applications and Interpretability
07:14 – Insights from Yale Intervention Trials
08:07 – Why DNA Methylation Surrogates Can Outperform Plasma Biomarkers
09:24 – Scaling to 1,700+ Biomarker Proxies
10:33 – Association to Disease vs Exact Value Prediction
11:31 – Detecting Disease Links Without Existing Diagnostics
12:22 – Accuracy and Specificity of IDPs
12:50 – Comparing Trends with Measured Lab Values
13:52 – When Biomarker Proxies Outperform Lab Values
14:17 – Use in Diet and Lifestyle Intervention Studies
15:23 – Clinical Reports and Percentile Outputs
16:12 – Collaboration Opportunities