• Support and protect members’ ability to engage in responsible, legal scientific research
• Respond to requests for assistance from neuroscientists targeted by animal rights activists
• Create and disseminate animal research resources, such as Best Practices for Protecting Researchers and Research and Responding to FOIA Requests: Facts and Resources
• Educate media, policymakers, and the public on the importance of animal research to advancing scientific knowledge that leads to treatments for neurological diseases and conditions
• Work closely with the National Association for Biomedical Research to issue responses to proposed legislative, judicial, or regulatory changes in animal research procedures
• Collaborate with research organizations, professional societies, and advocacy coalitions to counteract misinformation by animal rights groups
• Host the Animals in Research event held at the annual meeting

The Committee on Animals in Research is part of the Public Outreach Committee Cluster, which also includes the Public Education and Communication Committee and the Government and Public Affairs Committee.

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.

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, veterinary students, law schools, primary and secondary educational settings, 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.
• Recommend to SfN members actions they can take to protect themselves and their laboratories from becoming the targets of protests, legal actions, or similar efforts by animal rights organizations. Additionally, recommending SfN members be proactive in their efforts to protect their research from acts of animal activism.

Represent

•  The CAR chair serves as the SfN representative on AAALAC International (formerly the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International) 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

• Provide materials and resources to neuroscientists who may be attacked by animal rights groups who need SfN support in the form of letters, via digital platforms (i.e. social media), and similar public statements.
• 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, veterinary 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.

The committee is composed of standard committee members and up to 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.

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.