EARA drives global patient engagement in animal research at key annual meetings

In November, EARA advanced its mission on three major international stages — the AALAS National Meeting (Long Beach, USA), the Society for Neuroscience Annual Meeting (San Diego, USA) and the SECAL National Congress (Bilbao, Spain) — putting patient engagement, openness and responsible communication at the centre of global discussions on animal research. 

At AALAS 2025, Nuno Miguel Gonçalves presented EARA’s Patient Discovery Project, which brings patient groups into research institutions to learn directly how animal studies support treatment development. Nuno also updated attendees on the growing network of Transparency Agreements, including the Canadian initiative co-led by EARA and the Canadian Association for Laboratory Animal Medicine (CALAM). Nuno said, “It’s wonderful to witness the simultaneous development of the USARO initiative and Canada’s Transparency Agreement,” he said. EARA also co-led a communication workshop with the Foundation for Biomedical Research. 

At Neuroscience 2025, Kirk Leech spoke in the session From Animal Studies to Human Treatment, where patients and clinical researchers also emphasised the need for animal studies to create life-saving treatments. Kirk noted that transparency and patient engagement are becoming core expectations in biomedical research, particularly in neuroscience. “We believe this project, which has now run in a number of European countries, is perfectly transferable to the U.S. Turning patients into advocates can help counter the often-negative narrative accompanying animal use in scientific and medical advances,” he said.  

Throughout the meeting, Kirk and Nuno also staffed the Consortium for Public Outreach on Animal Research booth, speaking with neuroscientists, undergraduates and early-career researchers about overcoming fear around discussing animal research openly. 

At SECAL 2025 in Bilbao, patient engagement took centre stage. In a dedicated session, Nuno presented the Patient Discovery Project as a model for building trust in laboratory animal science, before joining a panel with patients with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and stroke, and researchers working in those areas.  

These events highlighted that long-term openness, direct engagement with people living with disease and clear communication at every step of the research process are essential for sustaining public trust in animal research.