Title of Presentation

Keynote: Beyond Animal Testing: Working Towards a Paradigm Shift

Start Date

12-10-2018 12:30 PM

End Date

12-10-2018 1:30 PM

Abstract

Dr. Chandrasekera is the founder and director of the Canadian Center for Alternatives to Animal Medicine, the first research center in Canada dedicated to the cultivation of non-animal based research methods in the bio-medical sciences. She holds a doctorate in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Calgary and is the director of laboratory science with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

Beyond Animal Testing: Working Towards a Paradigm Shift

Despite the wealth of knowledge obtained over a century of extensive animal research, effective treatments remain elusive and a failure-prone endeavour for most diseases prevalent today—many breakthroughs in research labs do not make it into our clinics. Similarly, for chemical risk assessment, the legacy animal-based methods do not reliably predict adverse outcomes on human health and the environment. From the Americas to the Far East, countries across the globe have already established national centres dedicated to the development and validation of non-animal alternative methods, and Canada joined this league last Fall with the Canadian Centre for Alternatives to Animal Methods (CCAAM), and its subsidiary, Canadian Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (CaCVAM) located at the University of Windsor. The overarching vision of CCAAM/CaCVAM is to reduce and replace the use of animals in Canadian biomedical research, education, and regulatory testing through 21st century science, innovation, and ethics. This presentation will provide an overview of the current state of affairs in animal testing and animal replacement efforts as well as future perspectives on the need to accept human biology as the gold standard.

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Oct 12th, 12:30 PM Oct 12th, 1:30 PM

Keynote: Beyond Animal Testing: Working Towards a Paradigm Shift

Dr. Chandrasekera is the founder and director of the Canadian Center for Alternatives to Animal Medicine, the first research center in Canada dedicated to the cultivation of non-animal based research methods in the bio-medical sciences. She holds a doctorate in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the University of Calgary and is the director of laboratory science with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine.

Beyond Animal Testing: Working Towards a Paradigm Shift

Despite the wealth of knowledge obtained over a century of extensive animal research, effective treatments remain elusive and a failure-prone endeavour for most diseases prevalent today—many breakthroughs in research labs do not make it into our clinics. Similarly, for chemical risk assessment, the legacy animal-based methods do not reliably predict adverse outcomes on human health and the environment. From the Americas to the Far East, countries across the globe have already established national centres dedicated to the development and validation of non-animal alternative methods, and Canada joined this league last Fall with the Canadian Centre for Alternatives to Animal Methods (CCAAM), and its subsidiary, Canadian Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (CaCVAM) located at the University of Windsor. The overarching vision of CCAAM/CaCVAM is to reduce and replace the use of animals in Canadian biomedical research, education, and regulatory testing through 21st century science, innovation, and ethics. This presentation will provide an overview of the current state of affairs in animal testing and animal replacement efforts as well as future perspectives on the need to accept human biology as the gold standard.