We celebrate our scientists, students, supporters and staff this International Women’s day
Published on March 8, 2018
Professor Lorna Harries, diabetes researcher at Animal Free Research UK
On International Women’s Day, we hear from some incredible women helping us in different ways to free animals from laboratories for good. With their help we can replace the use of animals in research with human-relevant, non-animal methods of biomedical research.
Scientist Lorna Harries
“I work on human diseases, and the best model for humans is humans! We are trying to work out what happens to pancreatic beta cells in someone with type 2 diabetes. It’s an endlessly interesting, varied and challenging job. I enjoy the complexity of my subject, and the opportunity to mentor others. I would encourage anyone to go into research; it’s a fascinating job and every day is different.”
Star supporter Steph Jones-Giles
“Ending the use of animals in laboratories is something that I’m passionate about. I am not able to be one of the amazing scientists conducting animal free research and so I do the next best thing! Working with other like-minded volunteers to raise awareness and funds for Animal Free Research UK is so very satisfying. Together we ‘make a difference’ and it’s the most amazing feeling in the world.”
A Selection of 2017 Summer Students
Our Summer Studentship and Summer Fellowship schemes are perfect for any budding undergraduate replacement scientists out there. These are great hands-on opportunities to experience life in the research lab and find out how you can advance science without using animals or animal-derived materials. We support young scientists of all backgrounds to start their careers in animal free research, in a wide range of biomedical research areas:
Summer Student Evie Gruszyk working in the lab
Evie Gruszyk: “The Animal Free Research UK Summer Studentship Scheme is definitely the best thing I have done at University. Not only did I develop new skills and become more confident within the lab, the scheme also confirmed that a career in animal free research is definitely for me! I found it was a worthwhile project personally due to the fact it replaced the use of animals, something I feel strongly about. I hope it will promote animal free research in other research projects. I would encourage students with an interest in laboratory work and scientific ethics to definitely apply for a studentship with Animal Free Research UK.”
Lauren Richardson: “The Summer Studentship Scheme gave me a taste for research and greatly improved my confidence! I was able to learn and improve a range of skills, and it was nice to feel that the work I was doing was supporting a good cause.”
Joy Girgis: “I have become far more aware of how non-animal approaches can be used and are technically feasible. This studentship will help in my final year project and will open so many doors for me in research in the future.”
Staff science communication officer Emily James
“My role as science communication officer at Animal Free Research UK brings together my love of educating people about the wonders of science and my passion for replacing animals in scientific research. The work I do here at Animal Free Research UK also allows me to use my scientific background to drive forward a change in the scientific community, to advance the uptake of replacement techniques. My other great interest is in supporting young researchers to develop successful careers, especially in animal-free research.”
If you know an incredible woman working to help replace the use of animals in biomedical research, then do please send us an email and share your story! Together, we can consign animal research to history.
