IMPROVE is organising a 3R Centers workshop on 17th September 2024 at the University of Linz, Austria (prior to the EUSAAT congress: https://eusaat.eu/eusaat-congress/24th-edition/congress-2024/). 

The meeting will be funded by CA21139-IMPROVE and co-organised with the EUSAAT conference, covering expenses for about 20 people as per the COST rules for travel and daily allowance reimbursement.

The main objectives are:

i) to coordinate the 3R Centers (currently most Centers are part of the network “EU3RNet” )

ii) to support emerging 3R Centers;

iii) to dialogue and collaborate with other relevant actors and stakeholders.

Please fill in this form:

https://docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSc2Sdyqcf574-9VZXLnvMLQgH3IfoOdVobF08guTkrDW2eyyg/viewform

stating your motivation and scope of your contribution by 24th July 2024 if you are interested in participating in the Workshop in person and would like to be reimbursed for travel and daily allowance. The selection will be based on the motivation and with the aim of having a wide range of countries and centres represented; you will be informed by the end of July.

Please fill in this form stating your motivation and scope of your contribution by 7th August 2024 if you are interested in participating in the Workshop in person or online without reimbursement.

The Ethics Crossover Group of the COST Action IMPROVE is pleased to announce a two-day workshop on the ethical issues related to animal research in Acibadem University Istanbul on 2-3 September 2024.

Aim of the Workshop: The aim of the Workshop is to discuss whether the use of animals can be morally and ethically permissible, and if or only when the study is scientifically structured on a sound and robust basis, and it complies with the 3Rs Principle (Replace, Reduce, Refine). The main objective of the Workshop is to reflect on the ethical dimension of animal experiments, in the age of emerging sciences, new awareness on animal welfare and in the perspective of New Approach Methodologies.

Venue: the workshop will be held in Istanbul Acibadem University, on the 2nd and 3rd of September, 2024.

The Workshop programme  will cover three invited speakers, together with discussion groups and panel gatherings, in order to encourage and facilitate brainstorming and interactions among the participants.

Type: The workshop will be in hybrid form and open to everyone. Travel and daily allowance for minimum 20 participants including the key note speakers and co-chairs will be funded by the Cost Action IMPROVE according to EU-COST rules. The 20 participants covered by the COST Action will be selected by the Scientific Committee of the workshop, based on the submitted application form.

Registration: Please fill in this form (https://forms.gle/iKN8xqu26HpTXvDt5) stating your motivation and scope of your contribution, if you are interested in participating in the Workshop.

Due to the large number of applications, the deadline has been anticipated to 15th July 2024, Monday. 

We look forward to welcoming you in Istanbul in anticipation of an inspiring get-together and thought- provoking discussions.

Kind regards,

Yesim Isil Ulman (yesimul@yahoo.com), Augusto Vitale (augusto.vitale@iss.it)

Venue: Acibadem University, Kucukbakkalkoy, Kayisdagi Cad, No.32, Atasehir – Istanbul / Turkey

Contact Person: Yesim Isil Ulman, e-mail: yesimul@yahoo.com

Thursday, February 15, 2024 4:00 PM - 5:00 PM

(UTC+01:00) Brussels, Copenhagen, Madrid, Paris

During this 5th webinar, we will zoom in on the use of high throughput organoid drug screening for various applications such as personalized medicine, and the development of breast organoids in fundamental research

- Prof. Dr. Christophe Deben is the head of the Tumoroid Screening lab at the University of Antwerp and played a key role in establishing and leading the UZA/UAntwerp tumor organoid biobank. He co-founded Orbits Oncology, developing an image and data analysis platform for organoid drug screening using live-cell imaging. Additionally, he is the co-head of DrugVision.AI, a university service platform that facilitates high-throughput organoid drug screening for both academic and industry partners. His work is pivotal in advancing the application of innovative technologies in cancer research.

- Dr. Colinda Scheele established her independent lab at VIB Center for Cancer Biology and KU Leuven Dpt of Oncology. She pioneered unbiased lineage tracing approaches, 3D whole organ imaging techniques and intravital microscopy strategies to study mammary stem cell dynamics and branching morphogenesis and received several awards for her work. Her lab studies how healthy tissue architecture prevents or promotes the different steps of tumorigenesis and uses advanced (intravital) imaging approaches and organoid technology. These tools are complemented with omics and quantitative modelling to further elucidate the mechanisms of tissue transformation.

The RE-Place educational Webinars are organized to promote the use and development of New Approach Methodologies in Belgium by putting the existing expertise in the spotlight! The Webinars are open to all interested parties including scientists, regulators, the authorities and the public.

Participation is free of charge, but registration is mandatory here.

All Webinars are recorded and placed on the RE-Place YouTube Channel via https://www.youtube.com/@re-place1330

Contact info@RE-Place.be for more information!

August 27-31, 2023 at Niagara Falls, Canada

Thanks to a grant under CA -IMPROVE, Arti Ahluwalia presented two seminars at the WC12:

Title: Lab on a laptop: beyond the experimental model

Title: Centro 3R, mainstreaming replacement through pervasive 3R education

The first presentation described some of the virtual models developed by her lab. Talk puts forward the proposal that in vitro models might be replaced by the “lab on a laptop”. Following the symposium, Dr. Ahluwalia was involved in engaging discussions on the value of in-silico models, analysing why they are not widely used and how to render them accessible to enable the implementation of viable and valid alternatives to animal experiments. This is a central theme in IMPROVE.

In the second presentation the talk was focused on describing the state of knowledge on the 3Rs at Italian universities before and after the Italian Centro 3R’s (www.centr3r.it) campaign of pervasive education at all levels. The results showed how education significantly increases the application of the 3Rs and promotes responsible research.

Some leaders in the COST ACTION IMPROVE were at the 12th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences (WC12) that took place in Niagara Falls (Canada) on August 27-31

IMPROVE was disseminating the work of 3Rs centres & platforms, as well as EU3Rnet - The rise of European 3Rs centres

More info about the congress here.

usercross