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Franco NH, Nunes JA, Olsson IAS. How formal training influences researchers' awareness and attitudes to animal use in biomedical research [abstract]. ALTEX. 2011;28(Special Issue):217. Abstract 521.

Even with existing regulation and supervision of animal use, the individual researcher's responsibility is still decisive in implementing the 3Rs. Training in laboratory animal science aims to raise researchers' awareness and increase their knowledge, but its effect on scientists' attitudes has not so far been systematically assessed. Participants in six FELASA Cat-C courses (N=150), held between 2008 and 2010 in Portugal, were surveyed in a self-administered questionnaire. Questions related to the 3Rs and their application, attitudes to animal use and ethical review of animal experiments. One year later, respondents were asked to answer a similar questionnaire (53% response rate) with added self-evaluation questions on the impact of training. Prior to training, most researchers (62%) were completely unaware of the 3Rs of animal research (23% claimed to know but failed to name them; 15% correctly named the 3Rs), a problem the courses effectively overturn, with 98% of respondents being able to name the 3Rs one year after. Moreover, the actual implementation of the 3Rs in their research rose considerably (from 30% to 60%). There is, however, a degree of reluctance to acknowledge Replacement, since participation in the course did not change perceptions of the current and future need for animal use in research. Based on this and other data from the surveys, our presentation will focus on the importance of formal training not only as a means to increase knowledge and develop technical skills, but also to raise awareness to ethical aspects of the use of animal models of research.

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