December 2024, Royal College of Physicians, London

Professor Sir Colin Blakemore Memorial Award 

Sally Robinson, AWERB Chair at the University of Bristol and Cancer Research UK, Manchester Institute was invited to present the Professor Sir Colin Blakemore Memorial Award, now in its second year. 

The award, made with funding from the Biomedical Research Education Trust, celebrates an individual who goes above and beyond normal expectations in raising awareness and public understanding of animal research. It was presented to Professor Emma Robinson of the University of Bristol for her determined efforts to speak out about the value and reality of animal research at a time when the university was under intense scrutiny and pressure from activist organisations, including a high-profile evening lecture at the Bristol Neuroscience Festival, where she engaged with the public as she talked about the use of animals in research to understand and treat mental health disorders, and without shrinking from controversial subjects such as the forces swim test.  

The Openness Awards 

This year’s Paget lecturer, Professor Robin Lovell-Badge, presented a highly commended recognition and the first of two Openness Award winners. 

The Association of Medical Research Charities was highly commended for their advances in transparency on the use of animals in grants awarded by AMRC member organisations, especially the efforts made, and value of, the AMRC collating and presenting details of the number of research grants funded by member charities in 2023 that involved animals, including a breakdown of the main animals involved. 

The first Openness Award winner was the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology for their approach to public engagement including two significant events in 2023: a largescale Open Day for the general public where particular efforts were made to engage with and encourage the attendance of local schools; and a ‘friends and family’ BBQ held at the establishment, where guests were given the opportunity to tour the animal facility to see firsthand what the work of their loved ones involves.  

The second Openness Award winner was presented by Val Summers of Envigo to the University of Manchester for the event, ‘Culture of care or culture of concern – let’s debate animal research‘. This event created a space for students and others to come together to ask questions and hear the issue of animal experiments debated and discussed by three experts – from Understanding Animal Research, the RSPCA, and the Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments. The openness award judges particularly recognised the efforts that would have been needed to obtain the necessary internal support for holding such an event. They hope its success inspires other signatories to hold similar events, with a continuing broadening of the perspectives represented on the stage, and of those attending.