Animal Models

The Global Medical Excellence Cluster (GMEC) and the New York Academy of Sciences, in collaboration with Imperial College London and King’s College London, sponsored the conference “Animal Models and Their Value in Predicting Drug Efficacy and Toxicity.” The goal was to provide a neutral forum to critically examine and discuss the traditional role of pre-clinical animal models in drug discovery, and how these models most effectively contribute to translational medicine and therapeutic development. <br /> <br /> International, multi-disciplinary clinical and basic science investigators convened to discuss and identify changes needed to increase the predictive power of various models for drug efficacy and toxicity in humans, and ways in which to further refine, reduce, and replace animal models in biomedical research in areas such as metabolic and cardiovascular disease, inflammation, pain.  Other topics discussed included new technologies in bioimaging, biosimulation, bioinformatics, the generation of genetically modified animals, phenotype screening, alternatives to rodent models, the use of embryonic stem cells, patient-specific induced pluripotent stem cells, and humanized animal models.  This volume presents a collection of short papers on some of the topics discussed at this important conference.<br /> <br /> NOTE: <i>Annals</i> volumes are available for sale as individual books or as a journal. For information on institutional journal subscriptions, please visit <a href=”http://ordering.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/subs.asp?ref=1749-6632&doi=10.1111/(ISSN)1749-6632″>http://ordering.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/subs.asp?ref=1749-6632&doi=10.1111/(ISSN)1749-6632</a>.<br /> <br /> <p>ACADEMY MEMBERS: Please contact the New York Academy of Sciences directly to place your order (<a href=”http://www.nyas.org”>www.nyas.org</a>). Members of the New York Academy of Science receive full-text access to <i>Annals</i> online and discounts on print volumes. Please visit <a href=”http://www.nyas.org/MemberCenter/Join.aspx”>http://www.nyas.org/MemberCenter/Join.aspx</a> for more information about becoming a member.</p>