davide@vetnutritionline.com
ABOUT
Get to Know Me
and My Philosophy
ABOUT
Davide Stefanutti
DVM, PhD, Resident ESVCN
My love for animals and science led me to study Veterinary Medicine at University of Padova, Italy. I then conducted a Ph.D. at the same university in Veterinary Science and Food Safety, with the aim of studying the use of innovative sustainable ingredients for pets nutrition. After investigating the use of blue-green micro-algae in dogs and cats in Italy, I moved to the Tufts University Center for Cellular Agriculture in Boston, US, to study the potential application of cultivated meat for pet food. Finally I concluded my PhD as a visiting researcher in London at the leading cultivated meat pet food start-up, Meatly. I specialised in evidence-based clinical nutrition not only during the Ph.D. but also as a resident at the European College of Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition. I am a member of the European Society of Veterinary and Comparative Nutrition and I am part of the nutritional committee of UK Pet Food. I am the Veterinary Nutrition Advisor of the UK-based start-up Meatly, which manufactures cultivated meat for pet food applications, and the Lead Veterinary Researcher of the US-based CRO Citruslabs, which conducts clinical trials to verify the efficacy of pet health products - testing with client-owned pets in the safety of their homes, and never on animals. My other clients include companies, veterinary practices and pet owners around the world. I am author of several scientific papers published in peer-reviewed journals and speaker at international conferences and training courses for veterinarians.
MY APPROACH
Question Everything
I think we all agree that a healthy diet is key to promoting overall health and preventing the development of many diseases. The problem is: how does a healthy diet look like? That is where all the different perspectives come in. So how do we know who is right?
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The correct answer is, of course, by testing the hypothesis. That is how we can find out what is true and what is not. An evidence-based approach to veterinary nutrition is the way to go. However, "evidence-based" or "science-backed" are pretty expressions that work great in theory but, in practice, are often overused or misused. How was the evidence collected? Are the data reliable? Are they replicable? What are the biases and limitations? And what about for all the questions for which there is no evidence yet?
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The power of First Principles
First Principle = foundational concept that cannot be deduced from other propositions.
Reasoning from First Principles means deploying a problem-solving approach where you break down a complex problem into its most basic elements - and then you build up the solution from these foundational truths.
This is very different from what people tend to naturally do, which is to rely on assumptions that have not been questioned and thinking by analogy. Such default approach is quick and easy, but it often leads to conclusions that have nothing to do with the truth. If you want the truth, if you want a solution that actually works, what you need is critical thinking based on First Principles. This is the only framework that leads to real progress, and therefore is the one I built with 10+ years of studying and work, the one I keep upgraded with life-long learning, and the one I use every day in my work.
Collecting More Evidence
Veterinary nutrition is a field in its infancy, and nutrition research is really complicated because there are so many variables to account for. Well conducted studies, especially long-term ones, are still very rare. Plus, many tests are still sadly conducted on animals in kennel or lab settings rather than with pets in the safety of their own homes. Besides the animal welfare issues, the environmental conditions of those settings are very different and not representative of the real world.
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So yeah, evidence is great, but we need to collect so much more evidence. We do not have reviews and meta-analysis of hundreds of randomised controlled trials for every single topic we deal with. But we still need to be smart and use the best available tools we have to help us navigate this complex world standing as close as possible to the truth. That's why thinking in First Principles is so important.
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