Charter
Mission
The Committee on Animals in Research (CAR) seeks to protect and advance the responsible use of animals in biomedical research. The Committee tracks changes in judicial, regulatory, and legislative policy that could negatively affect neuroscience research, generates resources on animals in research for SfN members and the public, responds to attacks against SfN members by animal rights activists, and builds alliances with other key stakeholder groups.
Responsibilities
Monitor
- Track the state of animal research and any legislative, judicial, or regulatory changes that could affect the conduct of such research.
Advise
- Recommend to Council actions relevant to the issues arising from the use of animals in research. Priority target audiences for these actions should include policymakers, medical students, law schools, K-12 teachers, and neuroscientists.
- Recommend to Council actions that join SfN in common action with other scientific, community, and educational organizations to counteract misinformation from the animal rights groups and to educate the public and legislators to the essentiality for human and animal welfare of research using laboratory animals.
Represent
- The CAR chair serves as the SfN representative on the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International (AAALAC) Board of Trustees and serves as the Society's scientific liaison, as appropriate, with the National Association for Biomedical Research (NABR), International Brain Research Organization (IBRO), NIH, and other professional societies on animal research issues.
Manage Activities
- Respond to requests from neuroscientists attacked by animal rights groups who need SfN support in the form of letters to their university or institution.
- Organize the Animals in Research Panel held each year at the annual meeting.
- Strengthen and build on the NABR alliance to continue the collaboration to rebut legal arguments for the "personhood" of animals.
- Create and disseminate resources containing information that every medical student and graduate student should know about animal research.
- Consciously and consistently refer to the advancements and successes in basic science that are a direct result of animal studies whenever possible.
Generate Policy Recommendations
- Generate public position statements on behalf of SfN about the use of animals in research for Council review.
Coordinate and Communicate
- Communicate relevant information to the SfN membership.
- Coordinate activities with the other committees in the Public Outreach Cluster, which also includes the Public Education and Communication Committee and the Government and Public Affairs Committee. The chair will serve as the committee's representative on the cluster's steering committee.
Composition
The committee is composed of standard committee members and three liaison committee members from NIH, who all serve a three-year term. The incoming chair serves as an ex officio member of the committee. Committee members and the chair are recommended by the Committee on Committees and approved by Council.
Schedule
The committee has two meetings each year, the first during the spring in Washington, DC, and the second during the annual meeting, during which planning for the next Animals in Research Panel is conducted. Additional correspondence is conducted by e-mail and conference call, as needed, throughout the calendar year to address issues that arise between meetings of the full committee.