Up to £4 million has been awarded to 13 research projects as part of the NC3R's aims to replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in experiments. These UK-based projects will look to advance knowledge and application into the replacement, reduction and refinement of animals in experiments as well as improve their welfare.
Award winners: David Baker and Mark Baker
Institution: Queen Mary, University of London
Value: £368,512
2Rs (refining and reducing) of animal models of multiple sclerosis
Award winner: Wendy Barclay
Institution: Imperial College London
Value: £125,368
Highly differentiated cultures of ferret airway epithelium for the study of respiratory viruses, including influenza
Award winners: Louis Chesler, Suzanne Eccles and Andrew Pearson
Institution: Institute of Cancer Research
Value: £291,488
Replacement of animals in cancer drug development by using 3D in vitro functional assays for increased predictive power
Award winners: Sian Harding and Nadire Ali
Institution: Imperial College London
Value: £323,316
Stem cell-derived cardiomyocytes for detection of cardiotoxicity in cancer therapeutics
Award winners: Christer Hogstrand and Nic Bury (King's College London) and Peter Kille (Cardiff University)
Value: £386,300
FIGCS: An in vitro model to replace ecotoxicity testing of fish to pharmaceuticals
Award winners: Peter Hohenstein and Nicholas Hastie (MRC Human Genetics Unit) and Jamie Davies (University of Edinburgh)
Value: £428,344
Reducing mouse number in complex genetic experiments
Award winners: Charles Vyvyan Howard, George McKerr, Kurt Saetzler and Ana Soto
Institution: University of Ulster
Value: £361,934
A 3D tissue model of breast morphogenesis for replacing animals in testing for endocrine-disrupting substances
Award winner: Ronald Jones
Institution: University of Bath
Value: £362,968
A chronic model of epilepsy in organotypic brain-slice cultures of the rat entorhinal cortex
Award winners: Mohammed Nassar, David Grundy and Mathew Holley
Institution: University of Sheffield
Value: £387,392
Derivation of conditionally immortalised mouse DRG cell lines
Award winners: Owen Sansom and Marcos Vidal
Institution: University of Glasgow
Value: £350,528
Using the Drosophila fly intestine to investigate Wnt targets in vivo
Award winners: Christopher Secombes, Yolanda Corripio-Miyar and Jun Zou
Institution: University of Aberdeen
Value: £156,812
Development of in vitro assays to determine vaccine efficacy in fish
Award winners: Dorothea Sesardic, Christine Escargueil and Roland Fleck
Institution: National Institute for Biological Standards and Control
Value: £337,308
Development of cell-based assays as replacement assays for botulinum toxins and antitoxins
IN DETAIL
Award winner: Caroline Brennan
Institution: Queen Mary, University of London
Value: £356,952
Zebrafish behavioural assays to identify genetic mechanisms underlying drug seeking and addiction
With current research highlighting the significance of genetic factors when looking at an individual's proclivity to drug dependence, this project will seek to develop tests to analyse zebrafish traits of impulsivity and novelty-seeking behaviour. As neurochemical pathways involved in drug seeking are highly similar between zebrafish and mammals, the aim is that, once developed, reliable tests will be used to breed fish with altered drug-seeking behaviour for future investigations aimed at identifying genes linked to drug addiction. It is hoped this will provide an alternative solution and help to reduce the use of rodents in studies of this nature.