Skip Navigation

  • Join
  • Present Give
  • Advocate
  • Publish
Sign In
  • Membership
    • Membership Overview
    • Member Benefits
      • Individual Member Benefits
      • Institutional Program Member Benefits
      • Sustaining Associate Member Benefits
    • Join or Renew
      • Automatic Renewals
      • Membership Dues by Category
    • Chapters
      • Resources for Chapters
      • Chapter Grants and Awards
      • Submit Annual Report
      • Start or Reactivate a Chapter
      • Chapter Directory
      • Chapter Video Challenge
      • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Member Directory
      • Sustaining Associate Member Directory
    • Professional Conduct
      • SfN Ethics Policy
      • Guidelines for Responsible Conduct Regarding Scientific Communication
      • Code of Conduct at SfN Events
      • Neuronline Digital Learning Community Guidelines
    • Frequently Asked Questions
    • Member Obituaries
  • Meetings
    • Meetings Overview
    • Neuroscience 2020
      • Dual Perspectives Call for Topics
      • PDW Proposals
      • SfN-Sponsored Socials Proposals
      • SIR Proposals
      • Storytelling Session Proposals
      • Symposia and Minisymposia Proposals
    • Virtual Conferences
      • Upcoming Conferences
      • Past Conferences
    • Past and Future Annual Meetings
      • Neuroscience 2019
      • Neuroscience 2018
      • Search Past Annual Meeting Abstracts
      • Attendance Statistics
    • Meeting Policies and Guidelines
      • Code of Conduct at SfN Events
      • Guidelines for Participating in SfN Events
      • Photography & Recording Policy
      • Presenter Guidelines and Policies for SfN Events
    • Calendar
    • Meeting Awards
      • Trainee Professional Development Award
      • FENS Member Awards to SfN Annual Meeting
      • IBRO Member Awards to SfN Annual Meeting
      • JNS Member Awards to SfN Annual Meeting
      • Science Journalism Student Award
      • FENS Forum Awards
      • IBRO World Congress Awards
      • JNS Meeting Awards
  • Careers
    • Careers Overview
    • NeuroJobs Career Center
      • Job Seekers
      • Employers
    • Neuroscience Training Program Directory
    • Career Tools and Resources
      • Neurobiology of Disease Workshop
      • Scientific Short Courses
      • Responsible Conduct of Research Short Courses
      • Global Funding Sources
    • Higher Education and Training
      • Core Competencies
      • Graduate School Fair
      • Neuroscience Training Program Survey
    • Awards
      • Lifetime
      • Early Career
  • Initiatives
    • Initiatives Overview
    • Awards
    • Neuronline
    • Leadership Development Program
    • Diversity Programs
      • Neuroscience Scholars Program
      • Latin American Training Program
    • Women and Neuroscience
      • Increasing Women in Neuroscience (IWiN) Courses & Toolkit
      • Celebration of Women in Neuroscience Luncheon
      • Awards
    • Animals in Research
      • Support for Members and Institutions
      • Tools and Resources
      • Resources for Medical Students
    • Public Education Programs
      • Resources for Educators
      • Brain Awareness Video Contest
      • Brain Bee
      • Science Olympiad
  • Advocacy
    • Advocacy Overview
    • Advocacy Network
      • The NeuroAdvocate Challenge
      • Advocacy Action Center
      • Advocacy App
      • Advocacy Best Practices
      • Advocacy Network Newsletter
      • Advocacy Training Seminars
    • US Advocacy Programs
      • Capitol Hill Day
      • Connect with Policymakers
      • Early Career Policy Ambassadors
      • Partner with a Local Chapter
      • Engage the Media
    • Global Advocacy Programs
      • Global Neuroscience Initiatives
      • Global Funding
      • North American Programs
    • Science Funding
      • Advocacy Videos
      • Advocacy Resources
      • US Neuroscience Initiatives
      • Funding Priorities and Processes
    • Policy Positions
      • Statements and Testimony
      • Sign-On Letters
  • Outreach
    • Outreach Overview
    • BrainFacts.org
    • Find a Neuroscientist
    • Brain Awareness Campaign
      • Webinar: The ABC's of BAW
      • How to Get Involved
    • Awards
      • Award for Education in Neuroscience
      • Next Generation Award
      • Science Educator Award
      • Undergraduate Brain Awareness Travel Award
  • Publications
    • Publications Overview
    • SfN News
    • JNeurosci
    • eNeuro
    • Neuroscience Nexus
    • Neuroscience Quarterly
    • Annual Report
    • History of Neuroscience Autobiographical Chapters
  • About
    • About Overview
    • Mission and Strategic Plan
    • What We Do
      • Annual Report
      • Professional Conduct
      • Bylaws
      • Resolutions to the Bylaws
      • Strategic Partners
    • SfN 50th Anniversary Celebration
    • History of SfN
    • Environmental Commitment
    • Volunteer Leadership
      • SfN Presidents
      • Committees
      • Elections
    • History of Neuroscience
      • Autobiographical Chapters
      • Autobiographical Videos of Prominent Neuroscientists
      • Classic Papers
      • Neuroscience History Resources
      • Robert Doty's Chapter on Neuroscience
    • Careers and Staff
      • Staff List
  1. About
  2. Volunteer Leadership
  3. Committees
  4. Committee on Animals in Research

The Committee on Animals in Research (CAR) protects and advances the responsible use of animals in biomedical research. It tracks changes in judicial, regulatory, and legislative policy that could negatively affect neuroscience research, generates animals in research resources, responds to attacks against members by animal rights activists, and builds alliances with other stakeholder groups.

Roles and Responsibilities

  • 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.

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, 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.

Composition

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.

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.

Committee on Animals in Research

Chairperson Term Ends
Peter L Strick, PhD
Univ Pittsburgh Sch Med
11/17/2021
Members  
Nakamura, Richard
11/17/2021
Richard T Born, MD
Harvard Medical School
10/28/2020
Yale E Cohen, PhD
University of Pennsylvania
11/17/2021
Tamas L Horvath, PhD
Yale Med Sch
11/16/2022
Mark M. Churchland, PhD
11/16/2022
Peter Janssen, PhD, MD
KU Leuven
11/16/2022
Sarah M. Woolley, PhD
Columbia University's Zuckerman Institute
11/16/2022
Karen L Bales, PhD
10/28/2020
Michael A. Long, PhD,BS,BA
NYU School of Medicine
10/28/2020
Karen J. Parker, PhD
Stanford Univ Sch Med
11/17/2021
Xiaoqun Wang, PhD
Institute of Biophysics,
11/16/2022
Erika Sasaki, PhD
Central Institute For Experimental Animals
11/17/2021
Liaisons Term Ends
Amy Poremba, PhD
NIDCD
11/17/2021
Franziska B Grieder, DVM, PhD
National Institutes of Health
11/17/2021

Featured

  • 2020 Call for Nominations Now Open
  • Submit a PDW Proposal for Neuroscience 2020
  • Virtual Conference on Power Dynamics in Training and Research Environments
    Register for the Upcoming Virtual Conference on Power Dynamics in Training and Research
SfN Websites
Engage with SfN
  • join Join
  • give Give
  • advocate Advocate
  • publish Publish
Quick Links
  • SfN News
  • For Press
  • Calendar
  • Contact Us
  • Advertise
  • Code of Conduct
  • Jobs at SfN
Follow SfN
SfN 50th Anniversary logo
1121 14th Street NW, Suite 1010, Washington, DC 20005
(202) 962-4000
  • Accessibility Policy
  • Disclaimer
  • Privacy Policy
  • Contact Us

Copyright © 2019 Society for Neuroscience