Training course: Validity and translational aspects of animal models in vaccine research

Date: 12/13 March 2020

Deadline: 1 March 2020

Participants: up to 30 participants

Organizer/Location: Wageningen University (SWR) / Lelystad, The Netherlands

Accommodation

Accommodation is not covered, to be arranged by participants (information on accommodation will be provided)

Learning Outcomes

Increased expertise on animal model assessment in veterinary and biomedical research and vaccine development; provide guidelines to select the most appropriate animal model for the research question addressed; provide guidance on study designs.

Who should apply

PhD students, postdocs and senior scientists performing (pre) clinical vaccine studies.

Minimal requirements

Participants will be asked to actively participate in the discussions; animal studies are an essential part of current/planned research.  Preferentially, applicants are certified to conduct animal experiments.

Course objectives

In various phases of pre-clinical vaccine development, animal experiments are indispensable. However, animal models are a matter of continuous discussion in regard to biomedical relevance and ethical concerns. The use of the most suitable animal model, the appropriate design of an animal study and the realistic expectation on the achievable information from the study are essential to the success and justification of the of use animals in research. This course is organized together with the EU infrastructure project TRANSVAC (info see https://www.transvac.org/m4-validity-comparison-animal-model) and designed to critically discuss the design of animal studies: choice of animal models, presentation of less frequently used animal species, animal numbers and the extrapolation of results to humans.

Contact and application: Frederic Lantier (frederic.lantier@inra.fr) Norbert Stockhofe (norbert.stockhofe@wur.nl)