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AMP Statement on the Continued Need for Animal Studies in Dogs in Light of Highly Publicized Canine Breeding Facility Closure

July 21, 2022

News coverage of the closure of a Virginia facility that breeds dogs for human and veterinary health research has prompted numerous questions from the public. Many Americans want to know why research in canines takes place, how often these studies occur and why there are no alternatives. Below is a statement from Americans for Medical Progress in response to some of the most commonly asked questions.

Studies in dogs frequently help ensure new medications developed for human and animal use are safe and do not pose serious health risks. We simply must be as certain as possible that the medicines we ingest or provide to our loved ones will not cause harm. But research in dogs is far from the first step in this incredibly important process. These tests typically begin in cell cultures and in computer models. Once these non-animal assessments are completed and initial safety indications are met, tests in rodents then take place. Barring any problems in these small animal models, an assessment in a larger animal species comes next. When this step is finally reached, dogs are often required because canines provide highly meaningful data that has been clearly shown to translate to human health use.

Click here to read the full press release/statement.

Americans for Medical Progress Statement on Monkeypox Outbreak

June 1, 2022

Infectious disease outbreaks are serious public health issues. Therefore, at-risk individuals should be informed of all disease outbreaks. This applies to the seasonal flu and also unique, new disease challenges, such as COVID-19. In every case, two critical factors should always be weighed by the public: the seriousness of the disease for those who become infected and the transmissibility risk. Monkeypox can and has caused serious disease in previous outbreaks, such as a small cluster of cases in Wisconsin in 2003. However, it does not spread anywhere as easily as other infectious diseases. This is why vaccination and quarantine have been highly effective in controlling past outbreaks. We firmly believe it’s highly likely the current cases that have arisen in the United States can also be resolved using these same tested tools.

Click here to read the full press release/statement.

Federal Judge Orders Injunction to Protect University of Washington Committee Members Following Home Harassment, Other Threatening Incidents

May 17, 2022

A federal judge sided with members of a University of Washington research committee seeking to protect themselves and their families from escalating harassment by animal rights activists. U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones granted a motion for preliminary injunction which prevents the University of Washington from releasing personal information requested by animal activists. If released, the details could be used to intimidate or threaten committee members.

Click here to see the full press release.

Americans for Medical Progress Statement on Pennsylvania Truck Accident Involving Monkeys Being Transported for Health Research

January 26, 2022

Last weekend’s truck crash in Pennsylvania, which sadly resulted in the deaths of three research monkeys, continues to receive widespread media attention across the United States and beyond. Following Friday’s accident, questions, concerns and even conspiracy theories have begun circulating.

Because this unfortunate incident continues to raise questions and generate news coverage, Americans for Medical Progress, a nonprofit organization which supports the advancement of human and animal medicine through responsible and highly regulated research in animals, wishes to provide some helpful information and context. Below is a statement from our organization.

Excerpt..

“Our organization has consulted with veterinary experts. In doing so, we have learned that while monkeys can carry a small number of naturally occurring diseases, the risks in this case were likely very minimal. Only a handful of people approached the animals. Nobody appears to have been bitten or scratched. Furthermore, stories that a member of the public became ill after the accident are apparently untrue. As the motorist in question explained to a local reporter: “I want people to know that I’m not sick despite what they read in the media.” She is wisely following the advice of federal health experts and is receiving preventative treatment as a precautionary measure.”

Click here for the full press release.

Americans for Medical Progress Honors the Animals Behind the COVID-19 Vaccines and Treatments

November 10, 2021

Americans for Medical Progress, a nonprofit organization that supports the advancement of human and animal medicine through responsible and highly-regulated animal research, has released a series of posters to recognize the unsung heroes behind the COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

According to a recently released statistical analysis, coronavirus vaccination is estimated to have saved approximately 140,000 American lives between the time the vaccines were initially made available for use and May 9, 2021.

“The COVID-19 vaccines are perhaps the biggest medical breakthroughs of our lifetimes. However, despite the huge impact that coronavirus has had on all of us, many Americans are likely not fully aware of how these vaccines came to be,” said Paula Clifford, Executive Director of Americans for Medical Progress. “That’s why we decided to release a series of posters to highlight the critical role of animal studies in making these lifesaving interventions available.”

Click here to read the full press statement/announcement.

University of Wisconsin Scientist Awarded ACNP-AMP BRAD Fellowship to Expand Public Knowledge About the Critical Role of Animals in Health Research

August 11, 2021

Margaux Kenwood, Ph.D., a post-doctoral research fellow in the Psychiatry Department at the University of Wisconsin-Madison has been awarded the ACNP-AMP BRAD Fellowship. The fellowship is a partnership between the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and the health research advocacy group Americans for Medical Progress. It was created to help raise public awareness about the essential role of animals in health research, specifically for clinical and basic research for brain-behavior-drug interactions and advancements in psychopharmacology. Fellowship winners also help promote careers in the field of neuropsychopharmacology, the study of all forms of mental illness and their treatment.

Click here to read the full press release.

McLean Hospital Scientist Awarded ACNP-AMP BRAD Fellowship to Expand Public Knowledge About the Critical Role of Animals in Health Research

November 20, 2020

Laura Erwin, Ph.D., a post-doctoral research fellow in the Preclinical Pharmacology Program at McLean Hospital, which is affiliated with Harvard Medical School, has been awarded the 2020-2021 ACNP-AMP BRAD Fellowship. The fellowship is a partnership between the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and the health research advocacy group Americans for Medical Progress. It was created to help raise public awareness about the essential role of animals in health research, specifically for clinical and basic research for brain-behavior-drug interactions and advancements in psychopharmacology. Fellowship winners also help promote careers in the field of neuropsychopharmacology, the study of all forms of mental illness and their treatment.

Click here to read the full press release.

How naked mole rats conquered pain—and what it could mean for us

By Elizabeth Pennisi

Although it has a face—and body—that only a mother could love, the naked mole rat has a lot to offer naked-mole-ratbiomedical science. It lives 10 times longer than a mouse, almost never gets cancer, and doesn’t feel pain from injury and inflammation. Now, researchers say they’ve figured out how the rodents keep this pain away.

“It’s an amazing result,” says Harold Zakon, an evolutionary neurobiologist at the University of Texas, Austin, who was not involved with the work. “This study points us to important areas … that might be targeted to reduce this type of pain.”

Naked mole rats are just plain weird. They live almost totally underground in colonies structured like honey bee hives, with hundreds of workers servicing a single queen and her few consorts. To survive, they dig kilometers of tunnels in search of large underground tubers for food. It’s such a tough life that—to conserve energy—this member of the rodent family gave up regulating its temperature, and they are able to thrive in a low-oxygen, high–carbon dioxide environment that would suffocate or be very painful to humans. “They might as well be from another planet,” says Thomas Park, a neuroscientist at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Read more

Published by Science on October, 11, 2016

Hype vs. hope in medical research

By Eric S. Lander

IS THE PROMISE of genomic medicine overhyped?shutterstock_162825059

This might seem a strange question coming from one of the leaders of the Human Genome Project, and the director of the Broad Institute, which brings together researchers from Harvard, MIT, and Harvard-affiliated hospitals to accelerate the understanding and treatment of disease.

I think the answer is a clear yes — and a resounding no. The contradiction highlights a thorny challenge in the ongoing conversation between scientists and the public.

This summer, I gave a talk at the Aspen Ideas Festival in which I discussed the need to accelerate medical progress through data-sharing and expressed the hope that, within the next 30 to 40 years, we might have enough knowledge to be able to turn cancer, for the majority of patients, into a treatable chronic condition rather than a lethal disease. Read more

Published by the Boston Globe on October 12, 2016