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The Insigneo cross-themes workshop on preclinical New-Alternative Methods (NAMs) will take place on Friday, 5 June from 1-5 pm in the Alfred Denny Conference Room, Alfred Denny Building.

Insigneo members, please accept/decline the invitation that should be in your Google Calendar. If you do not have a calendar invitation, please contact Sarah Black for an invitation (sarah.black@sheffield.ac.uk). Please note: this event is in-person only.

The goal of this Workshop is to showcase Insigneo’s expertise in alternative methods to animal research, to stimulate collaborations across the developers of different methods, and to identify strengths we could leverage for future applications, and also gaps in current approaches within the institute

The replacement, refinement and reduction (3Rs) of the usage of animal studies in research by using NAMs is a hot topic for the UK government and investment in this area is expected.  Moreover, regulatory bodies such as the FDA and MHRA are actively encouraging companies and researchers to use NAMs to support new pharmacological products and medical devices. 

This first workshop consists of presentations from experts in Sheffield, followed by time for discussion to stimulate collaborations and integrations of NAMs. 

Agenda (Titles subject to change) 

15min: introduction, motivation, plans  (Enrico Dall’Ara, Ipsita Roy, Ivana Barbaric)

30min: focus on in vivo longitudinal imaging approaches

• In vivo imaging in mouse models - a multi-modal approach (Claire Howarth)
• Zebrafish imaging to study the skeletal system and mechano-inflammation, applications in osteoarthritis (Heba Ismail)
• In vivo animal imaging capabilities in Sheffield: microCT and microMRI (Enrico Dall’Ara, Steven Reynolds)

60min: focus on in vitro/ex vivo/biomaterials

• Ex vivo tissue models of osteoarthritis and Intervertebral disc degeneration (Christine LeMaitre)
• 3D ex vivo human bone metastases model (Penny Ottewell)
• Biomaterials for 3D cancer models (Ipsita Roy)
• 3D biomaterial-based in vitro models for skeletal applications (Gwen Reilly)
• in vitro models of multiple myeloma (Michelle Lawson)
• 3D in vitro epidermal equivalents for preclinical research (Joey Shepherd)
• Stem cells research (Ivana Barbaric)

15min: break

30min: focus on in silico approaches

•  Methods in structural and molecular biology (Sarah Harris)
• In silico approaches in tissue engineering (Damien Lacroix)
• Digital twin for preclinical orthopaedic application (Vee San Cheong)

30min: opportunities and challenges (Enrico Dall’Ara, Ipsita Roy, Ivana Barbaric to moderate discussion)

15min: closing remarks and next steps (Enrico Dall’Ara, Ipsita Roy, Ivana Barbaric)

45min: networking with tea/cakes/cookies