Professor Lucy Donaldson, University of Nottingham, UK
Professor Andrew Trafford, University of Manchester, UK

https://doi.org/10.36866/122.10

The Society’s in vivo taskforce held its first meeting of 2021 back in March, an opportunity to reflect on the work of the previous 12 months and to identify emerging challenges and opportunities to those members who use animals in research.

The historians among the membership will know that The Society’s foundation back in 1876 was in response to a Royal Commission that recommended the introduction of the Cruelty to Animals Act 1876. This stood until it was replaced by the current statute, which regulates the use of animals in research, the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 (ASPA). As such, The Society’s longest standing area of policy interest relates directly to the work of the current taskforce.

Last year was a busy one with the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union coinciding with the impact of COVID-19 on access to laboratories and ensuring the welfare of animals during lockdowns, furlough schemes and restricted travel. As the UK Government has transposed more general EU laws and regulations on animals (such as the transportation of pets and livestock) into UK law, a number of opportunities for misunderstanding about the standing of animals in research in relation to these areas have arisen and The Society’s taskforce has worked closely with the Royal Society of Biology (RSB) to ensure that civil servants are aware of the nature of this work and that transpositions to UK law also account for existing regulation for animals used in research.

While much of The Society’s influencing in this area is done in collaboration with the RSB, Understanding Animal Research (UAR), The British Pharmacological Society (BPS), and the NC3Rs, the in vivo taskforce ensures that issues that disproportionately affect physiologists are kept firmly on the agenda and that the voice of physiology is represented on funders’ and policy makers’ working and stakeholder groups.

One clear example of the group’s continuing work is the ongoing BBSRC nationwide survey into the “use of models in research”. While the online survey was first made publicly available in June 2020, the in vivo taskforce was consulted as part of the development of the survey and members of the group have been co-opted onto the working group responsible for analysing its results.

One of the taskforce’s main focuses for this year is understanding how the shift towards online teaching of in vivo courses, as a result of COVID-19, will affect the granting of future educational licences by Animal Welfare Ethical Review Bodies (AWERBs).

We will work closely with other learned societies such as BPS and RSB and other key stakeholders to better understand the impact of the move to online teaching on the educational experience and any implications this move has on the operation of ASPA for educational purposes.

Finally, for the past 18 months, The Society’s in vivo taskforce has been working with the BPS on the Research Animal Sciences Education Scheme (RASES). This collaborative project is to support dissemination and delivery of the BPS’ Curriculum for the use of research animals to institutions who run relevant BSc or MSci/MSc biosciences programmes. This is to ensure that as many bioscience undergraduates and postgraduates have access to high-quality animal research training and education as possible.

As such, in vivo policy remains a central part of The Society’s work as the taskforce seeks to address the challenges that members face. As highlighted above, there are a number of projects currently ongoing and the taskforce would encourage members who work with animals in any manner to engage with our work to ensure it remains as responsive as possible.

If you would like to raise specific issues related to in vivo policy or are happy to be contacted by the taskforce in future, please contact taddison@physoc.org.

Read more about the Research Animal Science Education Scheme on our blog and in the British Pharmacological Society’s magazine:

physoc.org/blog/free-support-scheme-for-educators-to-improve-students-understanding-of-animal-research/

bps.ac.uk/publishing/pharmacology-matters/march-2021/introducing-the-research-animal-sciences-education