NC3Rs: National Centre for the Replacement Refinement & Reduction of Animals in Research
Webinar and video

Welfare webinar: Minimising animal suffering with refined humane endpoints and early interventions

Clearly defined, refined humane endpoints can significantly improve animal welfare without compromising the scientific aims of a study. Humane endpoints and early interventions should be tailored to specific animal models, rather than what is legally permitted across multiple studies.

In this two-part webinar, we were joined by speakers from across sectors to explore how refined, study-specific humane endpoints and early intervention strategies can be implemented in different research scenarios to minimise animal suffering.

A written Q&A will be available soon.

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Speakers and topics

Recordings are available for the following speakers: 

  • Refining bone marrow ablation and reconstitution in mice.
    Penny Hawkins, RSPCA.
  • Snakebite envenoming studies.
    Stuart Ainsworth, University of Liverpool.
  • Humane endpoints, focusing on body weight change as an objective measure of toxicity.
    Mark Blee, Toxicology and Regulatory Sciences team, NC3Rs.
  • Minimising potential suffering in rodent models for pain research.
    Klas Abelson, University of Copenhagen.
  • Severity heat maps: Developing consensus in severity assessment.
    Helen Murphy, GSK.

The live sessions included three additional talks:

  • Managing animal welfare and humane endpoints in preclinical safety studies: Balancing pharmacological activity and scientific endpoints.
    Romalie Allen, Labcorp.
  • Improving in vivo modelling of ischaemic stroke and animal welfare.
    Claire Gibson, University of Nottingham.
  • A comprehensive welfare scoring system for Graft Versus Host Disease clinical assessment in humanised mouse models.
    Alice Nowak, AstraZeneca.

For more information on these topics please contact enquiries@nc3rs.org.uk.

Webinar recording

Welfare webinars

Find out more about our webinar series focusing on practical refinements for laboratory animals, including recordings of past sessions.

Welfare webinar series logo, with an ECG trace representing health monitoring within a large 'W'.
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