Roundtable Discussions
What is our vision for our day of roundtable discussions?
Animal Free Research UK is facilitating a day of roundtable conversations between scientists and stakeholders on the theme of modernising medical research. Together, we will explore how to accelerate a phase in of animal free research and a phase out of animal research.
What can we say about Animal Free Research UK in undertaking this work?
Animal Free Research UK is elevating its leadership by building a community of animal free researchers and facilitating powerful conversations between experts in the belief that this will identify solutions to help enable scientists to stop using animals in medical research.
Why is this important to us?
There is an urgent need to modernise medical research by replacing animal experiments with cutting-edge, human relevant techniques, such as those funded by Animal Free Research UK. As well as causing suffering on a massive scale, experimenting on animals is not a reliable means of predicting whether new medicines will be safe and effective for humans. Over 92 per cent of drugs that show promise in animal tests fail to reach the clinic and benefit patients, mostly due to problems of safety or efficacy that were not predicted by the animal tests.
There is a range of high-tech approaches that can replace animals and provide results that are more relevant to humans, such as the use of advanced cultures of human cells and tissues, artificial intelligence and organ-on-a-chip technology. We want to enable and encourage more scientists to transition to developing and using these modern techniques, creating a brighter future for both people and animals.
How will we achieve it?
We are building a strong voice within the scientific community in support of animal free research as the gold standard. To achieve this, we are facilitating a community of practice – a group of people who share a passion for what they do and learn how to do it better as they interact regularly (Wenger-Treyner 2015). Together, animal free researchers support each other through problem-solving, information exchange, discussing developments, formulating best practice, sharing assets, coordination and strategy, mapping knowledge and identifying gaps, and growing confidence.
What is the plan and who will participate?
We are inviting animal free researchers to have conversations about what matters most to them, the experts in human relevant medical research. We will tap into the network of collective brilliance of these experts to generate ideas, action steps and collaborations. Through these conversations, we will build informed strategies to drive and expedite the shift from animal-to-human in science that is so urgently needed.
Where and when will it take place?
The roundtable discussions will take place at the Animal Free Research UK conference on Wednesday 15 November at Millennium Point Birmingham.
Animal Free Research UK Science Conference
This inspiring event is a platform for you to share recently developed non-animal research and new approach methodologies, and for us to learn from each other in a dynamic multi-disciplinary environment. We will be exploring advances in in vitro research, new approaches in in silico research, thinking beyond animal-derived biomaterials and much more.
When: 14-15 December 2021
Where: Millennium Point, Birmingham, B4 7XG
This event is open to researchers currently applying animal replacement techniques in their work and scientists with an interest in using such techniques in the future and policy makers in this area.
