Researchers from Italy, Portugal, Spain and Switzerland have been recognised for their innovative work in science communication and in efforts to replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research (3Rs).
Swiss-based Animal Research Tomorrow (ART) – the international grassroots NGO of biomedical and animal welfare researchers – celebrated its annual awards with a number of prizes.
The ART Awards for 3Rs research projects (with links to videos) went to:
Aurora Montali, (University of Insubria, Italy) – Silkworms as a non-mammal alternative infection model for screening new antibiotics.
Sara Silva Jorge (University of Porto, Portugal) – Non-terminal methods to assess cortisol in adult zebrafish (presentation, pictured).
Sergio Alcon Rodriguez (University of Basel, Switzerland) – Replacing mice with reusable prostate cancer organoids.
The ART Awards for Science Communication went to:
Alba Moran Alvarez (University of Oviedo, Spain) – A way to understand (TikTok account).
Tommaso Virgilio (IRB Bellinzona, Switzerland) – Animals and research, why? A transmedia approach to shape public knowledge of animal research.
Meanwhile, the University of Geneva, Switzerland, has awarded its annual 3Rs prize to Vladimir Katanaev and Mikhail Savitskiy.
Their study on genetic paediatric encephalopathies – rare diseases that lead to severe motor and intellectual disabilities from birth – used the fruit fly as an alternative animal model to mice.