Emily R. Trunnell, Ph.D.

NHLBI has announced new grant requirements for researchers proposing experiments on animals. Beginning January 2027, applicants will be required to justify animal use in their abstracts and provide a plan to validate any findings in a human model.

Progress is welcome. But this is not the overhaul that biomedical research needs. ⚠️ The system that has produced decades of poorly translatable animal experiments will remain largely intact.

NHLBI has announced new grant requirements for researchers proposing experiments on animals. Beginning January 2027, applicants will be required to justify animal use in their abstracts and provide a plan to validate any findings in a human model.

NHLBI Acting Director David Goff pointed to the potential of non-animal methods to replace and reduce animal use while accelerating progress toward treatments for serious chronic conditions.

NHLBI has announced new grant requirements for researchers proposing experiments on animals. Beginning January 2027, applicants will be required to justify animal use in their abstracts and provide a plan to validate any findings in a human model.

OLAW is seeking input on annual reporting of vertebrate species covered by the PHS Policy but currently excluded from USDA annual reporting requirements (which as a reminder is 95-99% of the animals used). 📍 Stay tuned for more guidance on responding to this RFI, including key points to make.

It was a big week for the movement for human-based science! 👏🎉 NIH & HHS unveiled new initiatives that expand investment in human-based science while addressing animal use across the biomedical research enterprise. Scroll down for key developments.

Additional initiatives include expanded infrastructure for non-animal methods, integrated multi-method laboratories, and investments in technologies designed to generate human-relevant data.

It was a big week for the movement for human-based science! 👏🎉 NIH & HHS unveiled new initiatives that expand investment in human-based science while addressing animal use across the biomedical research enterprise. Scroll down for key developments.

One is NIH's commitment to track animal use in funded research. Without comprehensive data, progress cannot be measured & accountability cannot be evaluated. OLAW's role in this is 🥴 given its longstanding focus on administrative burden and its record of oversight failures is questionable.

"The same pharmaceutical agent can primarily boost circulation in dogs, alleviate constipation in horses and, in rodents, prevent the bulging of the eyes out of the sockets...

🚨 Important paper alert! How do you transition an animal facility into a non-animal method lab? In this new paper, Clive Roper and Michael Coleman present what might be the first practical framework for doing this.

The transition away from experiments on animals to human-based science won't be achieved by just focusing on technology development and replacing one model with another. Its success requires redesigning and repurposes the structures that keep outdated practices afloat.

For years, researchers developing non-animal methods could generate human-based data, publish it, and use it internally, but there was no clear pathway to share that evidence unless it was tied to a drug approval application. @ema.europa.eu's new pilot program is changing that. 🧵

The new pilot creates a pathway for scientific dialogue. Researchers can share human-based evidence, receive feedback, and contribute to the knowledge base that shapes medical advancement. More on the @ema.europa.eu pilot: www.ema.europa.eu/en/news/volu...

For years, researchers developing non-animal methods could generate human-based data, publish it, and use it internally, but there was no clear pathway to share that evidence unless it was tied to a drug approval application. @ema.europa.eu's new pilot program is changing that. 🧵

In the voluntary data submission (VDS) pilot, academic labs, method developers, CROs, and companies can now voluntarily submit data from non-animal methods outside a marketing authorization application. That includes data from technologies like organoids, organs-on-chips, and computational models.

What hidden discoveries are waiting in biobanks? A study published in May provided strong genetic evidence for #PostpartumPsychosis. Using population-scale human datasets, researchers at Mount Sinai estimated that genetic factors account for roughly half of the risk.

Congrats to the authors, including @madisoncaballero.bsky.social, from @sinaigenetics.bsky.social, @aihealthmountsinai.bsky.social, @sinaibrain.bsky.social, @sdu.dk, @erasmusmc.bsky.social, & @ki.se. In @nature.com Molecular Psychiatry: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

What hidden discoveries are waiting in biobanks? A study published in May provided strong genetic evidence for #PostpartumPsychosis. Using population-scale human datasets, researchers at Mount Sinai estimated that genetic factors account for roughly half of the risk.

They also found genetic overlap between postpartum psychosis and conditions including schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, and several autoimmune diseases. Postpartum psychosis is a relatively rare condition, making recruitment and data collection especially challenging. #Psychiatry #ClinPsych

What hidden discoveries are waiting in biobanks? A study published in May provided strong genetic evidence for #PostpartumPsychosis. Using population-scale human datasets, researchers at Mount Sinai estimated that genetic factors account for roughly half of the risk.

NIH has added new Highlighted Topics* that include opportunities to address fundamental questions in human health using human-relevant, non-animal approaches, datasets, and technologies. grants.nih.gov/funding/find... #NIH #BiomedicalResearch #NIHFunding #Grant #NAMs