Using Non-animal Models to Study Breast Cancer

Our 17th 3Rs Training Webinar will take place on Monday, May 22, at 1 pm Baltimore/ 6 pm London / 7 pm Berlin. Professor Valerie Speirs from the Institute of Medical Sciences, University of Aberdeen, will talk about using non-animal models to study breast cancer.

When studying human disease, there is no better model than using human tissues. Prof. Speirs will discuss how she has incorporated this into her work from her early days as a postdoctoral fellow to current work on breast cancer as well as the application of some of the types of models they use.

• Free registration

Bio:
Prof Valerie Speirs is Chair in Molecular Oncology at the University of Aberdeen. From her PhD training at the University Glasgow under the tutelage of the late Ian Freshney, pioneer of advanced tissue culture models, she has maintained a keen interest in using non-animal models (NAMs) in her work. A cancer biologist, her work is focused on breast cancer. As part of a consortium which recognised that scientists required access to human breast tissue to help accelerate research, she helped establish the Breast Cancer Now Tissue Bank (www.breastcancertissuebank.org/). She leads the Aberdeen centre and is co-PI nationally. She established SEARCHBreast, a virtual resource aimed at sharing materials which are often surplus following animal studies on breast cancer, thus reducing the numbers of animals used in research. Ongoing work includes establishing the Aberdeen Cancer Centre, bringing together a team of scientists and clinicians working collaboratively to deliver patient-centred research. This bench to bedside approach aims to translate new laboratory findings into the clinic with the goal of directly improving patient outcomes.