Our Body and Mind: Focusing on the 3Rs to replace, reduce and refine animal research

Developing new treatments for Alzheimer's disease is a global priority. So far our progress has been limited, and this is due in part to the lack of experimental models that recapitulate aspects of the disease process in the laboratory. In this talk, we will discuss how patient derived stem cells are enabling the creation of “brain in a dish models” to understand Alzheimer's disease and other forms of dementia, and accelerate the development of new treatments.

People who have Down Syndrome are at greater risk of developing early onset Alzheimer’s disease than the general population. Down Syndrome is caused by an extra copy of chromosome 21, which encodes ~235 genes that make up about 1% of the genome. My work aims to identify the genes associated with Alzheimer’s disease, with the goal of preventing the disease in people who have Down Syndrome. As Down Syndrome is genetically complicated, research often relies on mouse models-as we hunt for genes-my lab are developing alternative approaches with the aim of reducing the use of mice in our research.

There are many ways to replace, reduce and refine the use of animals in research, which are known collectively as the 3Rs. The NC3Rs collaborates with scientists and organisations from across the life sciences sector, nationally and internationally, including universities, the pharmaceutical, chemical and consumer products industries, other research funders, and regulatory authorities.
This event will showcase researchers from London that we have funded.