The University of Windsor says it has received the largest philanthropic gift for research yet to support alternatives to animal research testing.
The money, $1 million, was donated by the Eric S. Margolis Family Foundation. It will establish a new research and training lab, as well as research and academic programming.
The lab will be named the Eric S. Margolis Research and Training Laboratory for Alternatives to Animal Methods.
Margolis is the former owner and chair of Jamieson Laboratories, which is known for producing vitamins. His focus is on animal welfare issues now.
"This next chapter will place our country at the forefront of future medical discoveries and safety testing," he said.
University President, Douglas Kneale says scientists have acknowledged the pragmatic and ethical limitations to animal-based research and have turned their attention to human-centred research.
Charu Chandrasekera, the centre's founding executive director, agrees.
"There is a tremendous need to focus on human biology-based approaches to study human disease and health impacts. Many countries have already established national centres to advance non-animal methodologies, but CCAAM is the first and only centre of its kind in Canada," said Chandrasekera.
The new lab's website explains, "Experimental animals continue to serve as the gold standard in biomedical research today, but many breakthroughs in research labs do not make it into our clinics. 95 per cent of drugs tested to be safe and effective in animals fail in human clinical trials. Similarly, for evaluating the safety of chemicals, the legacy animal-based methods are not sufficiently reliable to accurately predict adverse outcomes on human health and the environment."
Faculty of Science Dean, Chris Houser says research and the new lab will make the university a leader in non-animal, human-centred research.
