WEBINAR—Communicating How, When and Why Large Animals Are Essential for Research

October 13, 2022
12 p.m. EDT

This virtual event will highlight the importance of large animal research in preclinical and translational science that ultimately provides the foundation for the development of new therapies to treat and cure disease. Speakers will discuss the wider implications of this work, including the role of large animal models in advancing these studies. Karen Parker, PhD, associate professor and associate chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University in California, will present a keynote talk that will be followed by sessions on how to speak to the general public about research with large animal models. Topics will also include the importance of using large animal models to the advancement of animal welfare and new technologies to refine, replace or reduce animal use in research. This program will teach scientists how to educate and communicate with their community about large animal research.

Speakers

Karen Parker, PhD, is an associate professor and associate chair of the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University in California, where she leads the Major Laboratories Steering Committee and directs the Parker Lab Social Neurosciences Research Program. The principal goal of her research is to better understand the biology of social functioning across a range of species and to translate these fundamental insights to drive development of novel diagnostic tools to detect, and precision therapeutics to treat, social impairments in patient populations.

Sally Thompson-Iritani, DVM, PhD, is the assistant vice provost for Animal Care, Outreach and the 3Rs at the University of Washington (UW). She has experience in both industry and academia as a laboratory animal veterinarian, Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) administrator, facility manager and preclinical researcher. She is the executive sponsor for the UW Dare to Care program, which provides support and compassion resiliency resources for personnel that care and work with research animals and serves as a mentor for the UW One Health Program, which trains physicians on the role of One Health in our society.

Paula Clifford is the executive director of Americans for Medical Progress, a nonprofit organization based in Washington D.C., that informs and educates the public about the important role of animal research in advancing medicine and science.

Alissa Hatfield, MS, is the American Physiological Society’s science policy manager. She received a master’s degree in laboratory animal science before shifting to science policy, where she advocates for humane animal research and sound public policy on Capitol Hill and within federal science agencies. The goal of Hatfield’s work is to inform Capitol Hill about the realities of animal research and to help researchers learn how to have these conversations on their own.