A pivotal moment led Charu Chandrasekera to shift her career focus from using mice for heart failure research to exploring alternatives to animal testing. Dissatisfied with the limited translation of findings from animal studies to human applications, she founded the Canadian Centre for Alternatives to Animal Methods at the University of Windsor in 2017. Chandrasekera’s work, which included innovative technologies like 3D bioprinted tissues using human cells, aimed to revolutionize the research landscape. However, due to insufficient funding, her lab closed in 2024.
While countries like the U.K., the U.S., and the European Union have committed resources and outlined clear strategies to phase out animal testing in research, Canada lags behind. Despite having a plan to replace animals in chemical and toxicity testing, there is no comprehensive strategy for biomedical testing, which involves a significant portion of the up to five million animals used in Canadian research annually.
The emergence of advanced technologies such as organ-on-a-chip models, in-vitro methods, and AI computational models signifies a shift towards more ethical and effective research practices. Milica Radisic, a professor at the University of Toronto, has developed living heart tissue that mimics the functionality of a real heart, offering a promising alternative to traditional animal models.
Regulatory bodies like Health Canada play a crucial role in determining the acceptance of alternative methods. While some researchers, like Michael Czubryt from the University of Manitoba, emphasize the value of animal models in certain studies, others, like Lucie Côté from the Research Institute of the McGill University Health Centre, advocate for a cautious transition towards non-animal testing approaches.
Despite global initiatives and investments in animal alternatives for drug development, Canada has yet to allocate funding for these transformative shifts. The absence of financial support risks hindering the progress of innovative technologies in the country. Researchers like Chandrasekera stress the importance of Canada taking a proactive leadership role in driving change and embracing modern, humane research practices.
