Animals and research: accolade to Tommaso Virgilio's project

To contribute to information and dialogue on animal research: is the aim of the project developed by Tommaso Virgilio, a researcher at the Institute for Research in Biomedicine (IRB), which has been selected for the Animal Research Tomorrow Awards for Science Communication. 

The project "Animals and research, why? A transmedia approach to shape public knowledge of animal research" focuses on producing an awareness-raising video podcast addressing various topics concerning scientific research and the use of animals, from why we need animal research to its regulations and the alternatives and principles that guide it, in particular, the "3 R's" (replace, reduce, refine). This has been developed in connection with USI's transparency and awareness-raising strategy on animal research and also includes a website and a travelling exhibition with online and on-site initiatives to increase knowledge about animal testing and encourage open exchange between the scientific community and the general public.  

Animal Research Tomorrow (ART) is an association that promotes ethically responsible, cutting-edge animal research and pro-active science communication. Recently, it has announced the five projects - three research and two communication projects - that have won an ART 2023 Award. Besides Tommaso Virgilio's, the other prize-winning projects were 'The silkworm as an alternative non-mammalian infection model for screening new antibiotics' by Aurora Montali (University of Insubria), 'ZMATRIX - Developing non-terminal methods to assess cortisol in adult zebrafish' by Sara Silva Jorge (University of Porto, Portugal) and 'Replacing experimental mice by establishing reusable prostate cancer organoids' by Sergio Alcon Rodriguez (University of Basel) for research, and 'A way to understand' by Alba Moran Alvarez (University of Oviedo, Spain) for communication. 

For more information on the projects, visit the Animal Research Tomorrow website