Funding for Chair of Animal Replacement Science

Paws Up!
To the Dr Hadwen Trust in collaboration with the Queen Mary University of London for funding a professional chair in animal replacement science.

According to a news story , “In a world first, the research charity Dr Hadwen Trust has announced it will fund a professorial chair in animal replacement science thanks to a £1m donation from lifelong supporter Alan Stross.

Animals commonly used for research will soon be replaced by more humane practices at the Queen Mary University of London.

“Kailah Eglington, the trust’s chief executive, said the role, created in collaboration with the Queen Mary University of London , is a major stepping stone in finding alternatives to animal use in medical research.”

Today, we find many scientists do not use animals for testing, but rather use human and animal cell, tissue, and organ cultures; chemical systems; blood products; sophisticated mathematical and computer simulations; and plastic organ models. Advances in tissue engineering and robotics, bioinformatics, genomics, proteomics, metabonomics, systems biology, and in silico (computer-based) systems offer alternatives to animal use. Animal testing can take months if not years at expenses ranging from hundreds of thousands of dollars to multi-millions of dollars, whereas computer modeling can take place instantaneously and at far lower costs, especially the cost to the animals and their suffering. In vitro tests involving human cell and tissue cultures are faster, cheaper, and more reliable than animal tests in many instances.

Take Action: Send a note of thanks to these two organizations for their commitment to reduce animal suffering while improving medical research.

Kailah Eglington, Chief Executive
Dr Hadwen Trust
Portmill House, Suite 8
Portmill Lane
Hitchin
Hertfordshisre
SG5 1DJ
United Kingdom

Professor Simon Gaskell, Principal
Queen Mary University of London
Mile End Road
London
E1 4NS
United Kingdom