Exeter ARC: Professor Lorna Harries
Exeter Animal Replacement Centre of Excellence
Animal-free models for human diseases
Professor Lorna Harries
University of Exeter
At our Animal Replacement Centre of Excellence (ARC) at the University of Exeter, Professor Lorna Harries and post-doctoral researcher Dr Laura Sinclair are developing innovative animal-free methods to understand a range of human diseases including diabetes, COVID-19, and those associated with ageing.
Exeter Animal Replacement Centre of Excellence (ARC)
University of Exeter
The Exeter ARC is led by Professor Lorna Harries as part of the medical school at the University of Exeter. Lorna and her team are passionate about replacing animal testing with fully human cell-based methods, particularly by repurposing existing, clinically approved drugs and using sophisticated human cell culture systems.
COVID-19 was a key area of focus during the 2020 pandemic, with the ARC team making incredible animal-free research progress to improve our understanding of the virus’ transmission and spread, including the use of animal-free antibodies to identify if someone is infectious and likely to spread the virus to another person.
Other key research areas have included diabetes, where the team discovered the gene responsible for changing insulin-producing beta cells in response to ageing. This work has real-world, clinical application, which could lead to new diabetes treatments.
The Exter ARC has offered support and training to researchers of all levels, from undergraduate students, PhD students and post-doctoral researchers. By prioritising training of the next generation of animal-free scientists, our ARCs will help establish a new wave of animal-free researchers who will go on to establish their own labs rooted in modern, human-specific methods.
Professor Lorna Harries
Professor Lorna Harries’ group is focussed on developing animal-free research techniques that can be applied to the study of many different human diseases. A particular focus for the group is repurposing drugs that have already been approved for patient use, removing the need for any additional time, costs and animal testing in drug development.
Since the establishment of the Exeter ARC, Professor Harries’ group has developed animal-free methods to study several diseases, including diabetes, COVID-19, and the team are currently carrying out a first-in-kind human clinical trial testing repurposed drugs to treat age-related diseases like arthritis.
The ARC has successfully trained and supported several PhD students and summer studentships, as well as providing support for early career researcher Dr Laura Sinclair.
A breakthrough in understanding diabetes
Over 4.9 million people are currently living with diabetes in the UK, and diagnoses have doubled in the last 15 years. The need to find more effective treatments has never been greater – but experiments using animals are slowing progress.
At the Exeter ARC, Professor Harries and PhD student Nicola Jeffery aimed to find animal-free ways to study diabetes, which led to the discovery of important new insights into the changes that can happen in the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas (known as beta-cells) in people with diabetes.
Patients with both type 1 and type 2 diabetes lose some of their beta cells, meaning that the body can’t produce enough insulin to regulate blood sugar. Some beta cell loss happens because cells change their identity in response to the stresses caused by changes in fat or sugar levels in the blood. Insulin-producing beta cells can also turn into different types of cells known as delta cells, which produce a different hormone called somatostatin, instead of insulin, further reducing the body’s ability to regulate blood sugar levels.
Using only human cells and reagents, the team made an incredible discovery, by pinpointing the gene responsible for changing beta cell’s identities in response to stress, known as HNRNPD. This gene is responsible for turning beta cells into delta cells – which means that “turning off” this gene could help restore normal insulin production, and could lead the way to new diabetes treatments.
Dr Merlin Davies developed an animal-free COVID-19 test during the pandemic
An animal-free tool to detect COVID-19
When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, researchers around the world raced to understand how the virus worked and the best ways to protect vulnerable people. The ARC team were ready to respond, quickly producing results that showed just how powerful animal-free methods can be in tackling global health challenges.
The work carried out had two major parts: firstly, Professor Harries and PhD student Merlin Davies developed an innovative animal-free COVID-19 PCR test that measured how much active virus was present in patient samples, and found a link between this and the severity of patient symptoms.
The second area of focus was to understand why older people were hit harder by COVID-19. Merlin studied samples from different age groups and tested repurposed existing medicines to see if they could boost immune responses to the virus. Remarkably, the team discovered that a repurposed cancer drug could improve immune responses in older patients – a breakthrough with real potential to make a difference to patients.
This research was one of the very first COVID-19 studies in the world to use only animal-free antibodies. By proving that cutting-edge, human-specific methods can deliver reliable results, the Exeter ARC has set an important precedent for the wider scientific community. The findings were presented at conferences and published in the International Journal of Infectious Diseases, and even captured the attention of the media, with features in The Independent, The Times and The Telegraph.
Current project: Deciphering the role of sex hormones in ageing
The latest focus of work at the Exeter ARC is to understand ageing, and how our hormones can influence, or increase our chances of developing age-related diseases.
As we age, so do our joints, and our risk of developing age-related conditions like osteoarthritis increases. Many chemicals can impact the way a cell “ages”, which can impact how well a joint functions. Some types of chemicals from plants, known as “phytochemicals” are available to buy as dietary supplements, and may provide a protective effect for our joints as we age. However, we don’t know if phytochemicals can affect males and females differently, if they could play a part in how the different sexes age, or alter our risk of developing age-related diseases.
Professor Harries says: “It’s well known that men and women age differently. We have identified that some human hormones are capable of ‘turning back the ageing clock’ in human cells, but that these effects are different in male cells compared with female cells. This work may have several implications. Firstly, this may underpin some of the sex differences we see in age-related disease. Secondly, it may explain differences in how well men and women respond to different treatments for the diseases of ageing. Finally, it has implications for research to identify new drugs for those diseases. We are all aware that human cells provide the best environment to unravel human diseases, but our work suggests that results achieved may depend on the sex of the cells being tested. At present, we still don’t know the molecular basis for sex differences in disease susceptibility and response to treatment. This work may help us to unravel that.”
Dr Laura Sinclair won our ‘Early Career Scientist Award’ at our 2025 science conference
To find out if males and females do age differently, Professor Harries and Dr Laura Sinclair are exploring if dietary supplements containing synthetic versions of female sex hormones could slow down cell ageing. Their research focuses on the process of “cell senescence” – when older cells stop dividing and begin to deteriorate – a key process that drives many age-related diseases, from osteoporosis and heart disease, to dementia and diabetes.
By studying human cells in the lab, the team has already found that certain hormones may be able to “turn back the clock” on ageing cells. They are now analysing large-scale health data from the UK Biobank to see whether taking synthetic female sex hormones, such as those found in the combined pill, might help protect against age-related diseases. Excitingly, they are now running a first-in-kind human trial of plant-based hormone equivalents as potential treatments for age-related conditions affecting the hands, like osteoarthritis and osteoporosis.
In the clinical trial, known as the Phyto Ageing Study, participants aged over 50 with hand joint stiffness will provide blood samples, undergo grip strength testing, and have ultrasound images taken of their hand joints. They will then take a plant-based supplement every day for three months, before the tests are repeated to find any differences in their joints or grip strength.
This innovative research could help to pave the way for preventative therapies that tackle the root causes of ageing, rather than just easing symptoms. By working entirely with human cells, patient data, and human-only trials, the ARC team hope to find new insights into the ageing process, helping us to live longer, healthier lives.
”If we had been doing this research in a mouse, we would never have found what we found.
-Professor Lorna Harries
Professor Lorna Harries
on the Animal Free Labcast!
Listen below, or wherever you get your podcasts!
”For me, animal-free research embodies a kinder approach to science and medicine.
-Dr Merlin Davies
Dr Laura Sinclair and Dr Merlin Davies
on the Animal Free Labcast!
Listen below, or wherever you get your podcasts!
”I am optimistic that we are moving towards kinder, better medical research with more human relevance.
- Dr Laura Sinclair
What’s next – the ARC Catalyst Grant
Building on the success so far of the Phyto-aging study, Professor Harries and Dr Sinclair have been awarded an ARC catalyst grant of £25,000 to continue carrying out their incredible work. Once the study is complete, the team aim to publish the results and share their findings with other researchers and clinicians, so that repurposed drugs can become an option for patients, improving access to treatments and removing the need for unnecessary drug development which often relies on animal studies.
Watch the below video to find out more Dr Laura Sinclair’s animal-free research journey at the Exeter ARC!
