November 28, 2018, by Lindsay Brooke

FRAME kicks off 50th birthday celebrations with Nottingham Training School

The Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments is kicking off its 50^th anniversary year by holding a major event to train the scientists of the future.

To mark its landmark birthday, FRAME will hold its twelfth specialist Training School in collaboration with the EU H2020 VetBioNet Project, in its home city of Nottingham. The Training School will be held at The University of Nottingham – where the FRAME Alternatives Laboratory is based. It will run from the 9^th to 11^th January 2019, is FELASA accredited and qualifies for CPD.

This latest Training School will focus on experimental design and statistical analysis of bioscience and biomedical research. The programme is structured to lead participants from simple experimental design and statistical ideas, through more complex methods and analysis to effective presentation of findings. Participants are also able to discuss their own research with the Training School’s expert tutors.

FRAME delivers regular training schools to promote the 3Rs – the replacement, reduction and refinement of animals in research – by providing researchers with an understanding of alternative and new design concepts. Through its own laboratory and desk-based research, FRAME is continually investigating and developing new experimental methods at the forefront of science, and demonstrating and promoting scientific excellence to develop alternatives that are scientifically robust and reliable.

The training event will give researchers the ability to learn about more efficient designs for their experiments by stimulating engagement with the 3Rs. It will also give delegates the opportunity to network with scientists across industry and academia.

The programme will be delivered by internationally recognised expert tutors, including staff at the Centre for Applied Bioethics, University of Nottingham, Drs Kate Millar and Michelle Hudson-Shore. The format includes lectures, group discussions and individual exercises and is aimed at those who are at postgraduate level or above.

Dr Hudson-Shore, a research fellow in the School of Biosciences at the University of Nottingham, is the Training School Coordinator. She said: “This latest Training School will be a fantastic start to FRAME’s 50^th anniversary year and a valuable addition to the VetBioNet project. We are attracting participants from across industry and academia and from all over Europe. The places are filling quickly. The training schools are aimed at postgraduate or postdoctoral researchers but previous events have also attracted heads of department, professors, laboratory animal veterinarians, animal research ethics coordinators, compliance officers and directors.

“There is a great deal of interest in the 2019 course as there is growing awareness among scientists of the need to reduce animal numbers in experiments and to refine procedures undertaken on them. Researchers are always looking for a better understanding of how to properly design experimental programmes and effectively analyse results. By attending the Training School participants will go on to produce higher quality science, with more reliable results.”

FRAME is a medical research charity committed to replacing the use of animals in scientific experiments. FRAME is dedicated to the development of new and valid methods that will replace the need for laboratory animals in medical and scientific research, education, and testing. Where the use of animals is currently necessary, FRAME supports the reduction of numbers involved to an unavoidable minimum and refinement of experimental procedures to minimise any suffering caused.

The charity was founded in London in 1969 by Dorothy Hegarty. The main aim of FRAME has always been to promote the Three Rs (Replacement, Reduction & Refinement) as a way forward for animal experimentation.

FRAME promotes the elimination of the need to use laboratory animals through various activities including campaigning, publication of a scientific journal (ATLA), office-based and laboratory research and through its educational work. Through its laboratory and desk-based research, FRAME is continually investigating and developing new methods at the forefront of science. It also collaborates with other organisations, industry and laboratories across a wide range of biological and medical fields.

VetBioNet is the Veterinary Biocontained facility Network for excellence in animal infectious disease research and experimentation.

The principal aim of the VetBioNet infrastructure project is to establish and maintain a comprehensive network of pre-eminent high-containment (BSL3) research facilities, academic institutes, international organisations and industry partners that is dedicated to advance research on epizootic and zoonotic diseases and to promote technological developments.The project includes 3 types of integrating activities:

1. Transnational Access Activities (TNA), consisting mainly in providing access to the BSL3 facilities and technical resources of the consortium. This free-of-charge accessis provided to researchers or enterprises proposing a sound project related to epizootic and zoonotic diseases. As part of its Transnational Access Activities, VetBioNet also offers access to sample collections available at partner institutes and produces on-demand samples. The details of TNA activities appear in the “TNA Call” section of the website;
2. Networking Activities (NA)to foster the cooperation between project partners and to forge cooperative relationships with other European or international research initiatives, industrial stakeholders, international organisations and policy makers;
3. Joint Research Activities (JRA)to improve the scientific and technological standards of services provided by the consortium. VetBioNet assembles 28 partners from 12 different countries and has received a funding of €10 million from the European Commission (through the Horizon 2020 programme; INFRAIA-01-2016-2017 call) for a project period of 5 years (2017-22).

For more information and to book your place please visit www.frame.org.uk/training-schools

For further information please contact Sue Carr: sue@vformation.biz or Jemma Taylor-Smith: jemma@vformation.biz 

 

 

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