The organisers of the Joint 3R Symposium

Innovative technologies can help to replace and/or reduce the use of laboratory animals in biomedical research and regulatory testing. They are referred to as ‘New Approach Methodologies’ (NAMs) and include, amongst others, in vitro and in silico models. Due to their fast development pace, scientist may encounter difficulties in finding relevant, reliable, and up-to-date information on the use of NAMs in a fast and efficient way.

In order to facilitate the search for this type of information, the RE-Place project was launched as a joint initiative between the Flemish and Brussels Government. RE-Place is an independent, scientific project which aims to collect all existing expertise on the use of NAMs in one central, open access database in Belgium, available via www.re-place.be. Each method of the RE-Place database is associated with the name and affiliation of the scientist who has developed and/or currently uses the NAM. It provides a direct point of contact which strongly encourages networking activities within the Belgian scientific community.

In addition to actively collecting the existing expertise on NAMs, the RE-Place project also promotes the use of new technologies by sharing (inter-)nationally available knowledge via the website and corresponding social media channels. As such, the RE-Place project not only helps to raise awareness, but also builds bridges and increases trust in the use of these new technologies, thereby stimulating the regulatory uptake of NAMs and their daily use.

The Innovation Centre 3Rs (IC-3Rs) has emerged within the In Vitro Toxicology & Dermato-Cosmetology (IVTD) research department at the VUB. The Centre offers young scientists the possibility to carry out research without the use of experimental animals. Expertise in this field has developed over years and is based on the pharmaco-toxicological research of the IVTD group, which also  possesses strong expertise in regulatory toxicology.  Financial support comes from the Chair ‘Mireille Aerens for the Development of Alternatives Methods’, situated at the VUB, and from the Animal Welfare department of the Brussels Region. 

IC-3Rs promotes the application of the 3R-principle  at the (inter)national level to ensure that researchers use the most human-relevant methods and as such reduce the numbers of animals used. The 3Rs Centre collects and disseminates knowledge on the latest and most sophisticated in vitro, in silico and in chemico  methods through its social media, public lectures, symposia and via networking with other EU 3R-platforms and scientific organizations involved in promoting alternative methods.

TWINALT is a European Horizon 2020 funded project under the “Widening participation and spreading excellence” Twinning action that aims to significantly strengthening a defined field of research and networking activities between the research institution of the Widening Country, acting as coordinator, and internationally leading counterparts at the EU level.

Within the TWINALT project (https://twinalt.com), the Nofer Institute of Occupational Medicine in Poland (NIOM), as the institute from the Widening Country, joins forces with the Vrije Universiteit Brussel (VUB, Belgium), the Norwegian Institute for Air Research (NILU) and the University of Milan (UMIL, Italy) to enhance their research position and technological capacity towards in vitro methods for toxicity testing.

In addition to exchange of know-how through training mobilities, the four members of the TWINALT consortium also strengthening each other's skills in entrepreneurship, business case development and intellectual property management through the organisation of several events. These are open to all researchers and can provide a rich learning experience for early-stage researchers in particular.