Membership

Information about the members of the Animals in Science Committee and meeting minutes.

Chair

Dr Sally Robinson, semi-retired, Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute and University of Bristol.

Committee members

  • Dr Andrew Benest, Associate Professor in Cancer Sciences, University of Nottingham

  • Professor Jonathan Birch, Professor of Philosophy, Department of Philosophy, Logic and Scientific Method, London School of Economics and Political Science

  • Mrs Caroline Chadwick, semi-retired

  • Dr Beth Clark, Lecturer in Food Marketing, Newcastle University

  • Dr Juliet P. Dukes, Research Manager, Replacing Animal Research

  • Dr Stuart Greenhill, Reader in Neuroscience, College of Health and Life Sciences, Aston University

  • Dr David Grumett, Senior Lecturer in Theology and Ethics, University of Edinburgh

  • Dr Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas, Lecturer in Animal Computing, University of Glasgow

  • Professor Martin Knight, Professor of Mechanobiology, School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary, University of London (job share)

  • Mrs Tina O’Mahony, Biofacility Manager, Cambridge University

  • Professor Hazel Screen, Professor of Biomedical Engineering, School of Engineering and Materials Science, Queen Mary, University of London (job share)

  • Dr Dharaminder Singh, Principal Bioengineer, CN Bio Innovations

  • Dr Carl Westmoreland, retired

  • Dr Lucy Whitfield, Director, OWL Vets Ltd

  • Professor Alastair Wilson, Professor of Evolutionary Biology, Centre for Ecology and Conservation, University of Exeter

Biographies

Dr Sally Robinson (Chair)

Sally has a PhD in Chemistry and Pharmacology from the University of Liverpool. She has a breadth of experience in relation to animal research through roles predominantly within the pharmaceutical industry but more recently in academia.

She has over 20 years of experience of implementation of the 3Rs at local and international level, and promotion of a culture of care and governance through Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Bodies (AWERB) with over 30 publications on these topics.

Sally has experience of chairing a wide range of committees or expert working groups with diverse membership. For example, the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) Research and Animal Welfare group, UK NC3Rs expert working groups and panels, and AWERBs.

Most of Sally’s working life was at AstraZeneca within safety assessment as a toxicologist within both the regulatory and investigative areas. She was then Senior Director of the Animal Sciences and Technology team and the Establishment Licence Holder. She led a global pharmaceutical company initiative with NC3Rs to remove the requirement for acute toxicity studies from the development of new medicines, leading to a revision of ICH M3 guidelines, and received an international award for the enhancement of animal welfare for this work.

More recently, Sally completed a master’s in medical ethics and law.

Dr Andrew Benest

Dr Andrew Benest is an Associate Professor of Vascular Biology at the University of Nottingham. His research focuses on endothelial cell biology and vascular remodelling, with particular interest in the mechanisms regulating angiogenesis and lymphatic function in disease. His work combines in vivo and in vitro experimental models with molecular and imaging approaches to understand how vascular systems respond to disease and opportunities for therapeutic intervention.  Andrew completed his BSc (hons) and PhD in the department of Physiology, University of Bristol.

Dr Benest has direct experience of the governance and ethical review of animal research through his involvement with institutional Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Bodies (AWERB). He previously worked in Germany during his research career and continues to collaborate internationally. He is a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Biology (FRSB), and his research has received funding from charitable and UKRI.

Professor Jonathan Birch

Professor Jonathan Birch is a Professor of Philosophy at the LSE, where he leads a project called “Foundations of Animal Sentience”. He has a PhD in History & Philosophy of Science from the University of Cambridge and was a Junior Research Fellow at Christ’s College, Cambridge, from 2012 to 2014. He joined the LSE as an Assistant Professor in 2014 and was promoted to Professor in 2023.

Professor Birch has written widely on animal sentience, welfare and ethics, and on the conceptual foundations of the biological sciences. In 2021, he led a “Review of the Evidence of Sentience in Cephalopod Molluscs and Decapod Crustaceans” that led to invertebrate animals including octopuses, crabs and lobsters being included in the UK government’s Animal Welfare (Sentience) Act 2022. In addition to his interest in animal sentience, he also has a longstanding interest in the evolution of altruism and social behaviour. His first book, The Philosophy of Social Evolution, was published by Oxford University Press in 2017.

Mrs Caroline Chadwick

Caroline Chadwick retired in May 2023 after a career on both sides of the animal research fence. Initially starting out as a researcher at the Cancer Research UK Paterson Institute in Manchester, she then crossed over to become Director of the Biomedical Services Unit at the University of Birmingham for the last 16 years. She has been a strong supporter of LASA including time as council member and scientific meetings secretary. A career highlight in 2023 was receiving the British Empire Medal (BEM) in the Kings Birthday Honours list for services to humane animal research. During her career she has been involved in many working groups looking at many aspects of 3Rs in animal research.

Dr Beth Clark

Beth is a Lecturer at Newcastle University based within the Centre for Rural Economy. She teaches on a range of modules in relation to marketing, product development, communications and behaviour change. Beth has a PhD in Agriculture, Food and Rural Development from Newcastle University. She currently sits as a lay member on her institutional Animal Welfare Ethics Review Board.

Beth’s research focuses on understanding how human behaviour impacts animal health and welfare across a range of predominantly farmed livestock species. Her work involves close collaboration with a range of industry stakeholders including farmers, veterinarians, retailers and consumers of animal products. As part of her work, she has undertaken a range of public engagement activities centred around livestock farming and animal health.

Dr Juliet Dukes

Juliet Dukes studied Zoology at Imperial College, Forensic Science at Kings College London, and obtained her PhD in Zoological Genetics and the Institute of Zoology at UCL.

She had a diverse research career in neuroscience, veterinary virology, and human cancer, working with, and without, animals before leaving academia in 2014 to join the charity sector, focusing on the 3Rs, animal welfare and ethics.

As the Research Manager at Replacing Animal Research in the UK, Juliet runs the charity’s grant funding programmes supporting the development of non-animal methods. She also works with individuals and organisations in the research community, developing tools and guidance, like the ‘Replacement Checklist’, to help them fully implement Replacement, as the first, and the ultimate goal, of the 3Rs.

Juliet also serves on a University AWERB as an independent external member, is a member of LASA, and convenes the FELASA Working Group for Replacement Training.

Dr Stuart Greenhill

Dr Stuart Greenhill is a Reader in Neuroscience within the School of Medicine, Pharmacy and Biosciences at Aston University. With a background in pharmacology and electrophysiology, and expertise in cellular and network neuroscience, his research is focussed on the contribution of synaptic plasticity to brain development and the emergence of neurological conditions such as epilepsy. He is involved in the design and deployment of novel techniques for cellular and network neuroscience research, with an emphasis on 3Rs developments in wireless telemetry, organotypic culture and human tissue electrophysiology.

Dr David Grumett

David Grumett is Senior Lecturer in Theology and Ethics at the University of Edinburgh. He has served as the deputy chair and ethicist of Defra’s Animal Welfare Committee, where he led and contributed to working parties providing published advice to ministers and senior civil servants on a range of commissioned topics. David has also advised the Scottish Animal Welfare Commission and has convened a university research ethics committee.

David has previously researched and taught at the Universities of Cambridge and Exeter and holds an undergraduate degree in Politics and Government. He is a senior fellow of Advance HE and a fellow of the International Society for Science and Religion.

Dr Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas

Ilyena Hirskyj-Douglas is a Lecturer and Director of the Animal-Computer Interaction Lab at the University of Glasgow. She researches and teaches at the intersection of animals, computing and AI, designing computer systems for and with animals that give animals choice and control over their environments and social lives, tailored to their physical and cognitive capabilities. She is passionate about how animals use computers, how they are involved in technology systems, and how such systems can impact their well-being and humans’ perceptions and understanding of animals.

Professor Martin Knight

Professor Martin Knight is a bioengineering at Queen Mary University of London with a track record of research developing and using organ-on-a-chip technology. With his ASC job share, Prof Hazel Screen, he led the UK Organ-on-a-chip Technologies Network and now Directs the Queen Mary Centre for Predictive in vitro Models. This emerging multidisciplinary field has the potential to transform biomedical research and pre-clinical drugs testing as an alternative to the use of animals. Martin is particularly interested in the role of mechanical forces on regulating cell biology and how this can be incorporated into in vitro models. His work covers development of organ-chip models for a wide variety of tissues and diseases, including arthritis, cancer, atherosclerosis and kidney disease. He is passionate about translating this technology to provide safer, more effective therapeutics for all.

Martin is currently the chair of council for the UK BioMedEng Association and the Dean for Research in the Faculty of Science and Engineering at Queen Mary University of London.

Mrs Tina O’Mahony

Tina O’Mahony is a Biofacility Manager at Cambridge University. She has over 30 years’ experience working as a technician, a NACWO and NTCO. Tina is the Chair of board of assessors and an Institute of Animal Technology council member. In 2019, she joined a working group with the NC3Rs to look at refinements to rodent head fixation and fluid/food control for neuroscience which was published in November 2022.

Tina is passionate about how we educate both animal care staff and researchers alike. She has taught on module training courses for over 20 years as well as bespoke courses on how to implement the 3Rs in the care of our animals as well as the procedures carried out.

Professor Hazel Screen

Professor Hazel Screen is a biomedical engineer and Head of School of Engineering & Materials Science at Queen Mary University of London. She has particular expertise in the design and development of in vitro models for use in discovery science or therapeutic testing. With her ASC job share, Professor Martin Knight, she led the UK Organ-on-a-chip Technologies Network and now directs the Queen Mary Centre for Predictive in vitro Models. She has particular expertise in the design of musculoskeletal models such as tendon, muscle, bone and cartilage, and also a significant focus on the recapitulation of biophysical environment within a model, looking at ways to control internal mechanical cues such as matrix stiffness, topography, structure as well as the application of external mechanics.

Dr Dharaminder Singh

Dr Dharaminder Singh is an experienced Principal Bioengineer, spearheading consumable and model development at organ-on-a-chip company, CN Bio. His engineering background enables him to solve complex biological questions and tackle challenging tasks through the development of many organ-on-a-chip platforms. Dharaminder has successfully led global collaborations between technology developers, pharmaceutical companies, and academics to create microphysiological systems (MPS). As an MPS and new approach methods (NAMs) advocate he is a part of affiliations working to further the adoption of MPS, standardise MPS technologies, increase regulatory submissions, and develop qualification guidelines. Dharaminder Singh studied an MEng in Biomaterials Science and Tissue Engineering and obtained a PhD in Bioengineering from the University of Sheffield.

Dr Carl Westmoreland

Dr Carl Westmoreland is a toxicologist who retired from Unilever in 2024, where he worked for over 20 years in the Safety and Environmental Assurance Centre (SEAC) in the UK. A large part of his role in Unilever focused on the strategic development and application of the science needed for non-animal, risk-based safety assessments. He received his PhD from the University of Surrey, UK and worked as a toxicologist at GlaxoSmithKline for 10 years.

Carl is a member of the UK NC3Rs NAMs Advisory Group and is a Fellow of the British Toxicology Society. Previously, Carl has worked with several scientific groups relating to the assessment of safety without animal testing, including EPAA, ECETOC, UK NC3Rs, AFSA and Cefic and has been a member of the EURL-ECVAM Scientific Advisory Committee.

Dr Lucy Whitfield

Lucy Whitfield is a veterinary surgeon, focussed on the welfare of animals within the research environment. She is a member of AWERBs for several biomedical research institutes.

An active participant in a number of UK and international working groups, Lucy’s interests include enabling consistent, comprehensive education, training and competence of all those who work with animals, in order that their animals’ needs are better understood and cared for.

Professor Alastair Wilson

Alastair Wilson is Professor of Evolutionary Biology at the University of Exeter. He is a broadly trained zoologist with particular expertise in animal behaviour and evolutionary genetics. His research combines molecular, ecological and statistical methods to understand how complex, polygenic traits respond to selection. His research encompasses diverse animal taxa - from corals and insects to fish and mammals - and includes both lab-based and field-based studies. Alongside his primary research, he has developed statistical methods and experimental protocols to advance reduction and refinement goals in zoological research, and has over 20 years’ experience contributing to ethical governance within UK universities.

Minutes

These minutes may not be fully accessible. We are working to fix these.

Previous minutes are available on the National Archives website.

Subgroup membership

Subgroup membership is currently being reconsidered following the appointment of new ASC Members. This section will be updated in due course.

Contents