Spotlight on Three Rs Progress.

Abstract

The use of animals in biomedical research is increasingly the subject of debate and concern. A growing range of modern and ever-improving techniques — new approach methodologies (NAMs) — can replace the use of animals while providing results that are more likely to be relevant to humans. While NAMs are more and more accepted by the scientific community, there is still a significant lack of confidence and thus adoption among biomedical researchers. Insufficient awareness and/or validation of tools, accessibility and lack of knowledge are salient obstacles. In other words, there is a need for more communication between biomedical researchers and industry to validate these tools, and for more concrete methodology, guidelines and standardisation efforts to gain more support for adoption. A Community of Practice (CoP) is generally a network of people who share a concern, set of problems or passion about a topic, and who deepen their expertise and knowledge by interacting on an ongoing basis. A CoP’s activities are determined by its members, and can include: networking; forum discussion; organising and promoting events; sharing resources; building new collaborations; circulating information; and sharing and discussing results (both positive and negative). The Alliance for Human Relevant Science and Animal Free Research UK have launched a one-of-its-kind online CoP, to help improve communication among biomedical scientists from around the world and bring them together to practice human-relevant research. Forming a CoP such as this can help stakeholders in creating, expanding and exchanging knowledge, in order to develop individual capabilities and learn the way together towards concerted action for managing systemic change and making humancentred practice the gold standard of research. The platform is curated by members and Animal Free Research UK coordinators. Membership is free, and new members can sign up and join the community at https:// animalfreeresearchcommunity.com/signup. Members are invited to add content, create and share events and resources, and to collaborate on projects. Academic researchers, early career scientists, students, industry experts and other stakeholders involved in the biomedical research sector can interact online, as well as attend planned events. For more information, contact Lilas Courtot (Lilas@animalfreeresearchuk.org), or visit www.animalfreeresearch community.com