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The International Society for Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE) is a non-profit international professional membership organization dedicated to advancing the health of the public by providing a forum for the open exchange of scientific information and for the development of policy; education; and advocacy for the field of pharmacoepidemiology, including pharmacovigilance, drug utilization research, outcomes research, comparative effectiveness research, and therapeutic risk management.

Researchers can apply for access to data from health registries and health studies, as well as biological material from the biobanks. Here you will find guidelines and electronic application forms.

NorPEN is a network of researchers with the purpose of facilitating research within the field of pharmacoepidemiology in the Nordic countries. The website

UMC regularly publishes scientific papers in a range of international journals. These papers record progress and results from research into clinical or methodological issues in pharmacovigilance.

The MRC ethics series document ‘Good research practice: principles and guidelines’ sets out the MRC’s expectations for MRC research units and institutes, MRC university units, MRC centres and MRC grant holders in the form of principles, guidelines and standards to foster good research practice in all MRC-funded research.

The Interspecies Database helps researchers to make an optimal choice of species and strain of the animal model, which is essential for efficient extrapolation of animal data to humans or other animals. Thee database has initially been developed by the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment (RIVM) and the Dutch Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports. It is offered by the 3Rs-Centre ULS in collaboration with the RIVM.

The Cambridge Centre for Animal Rights Law is an academic centre of competence dedicated to the study of fundamental rights for non-human animals and is based in Cambridge, UK. The Centre builds on the success of the Talking Animals, Law & Philosophy series which has become a renowned forum for exchange of research in animal rights law ever since its inception in 2015.

The use of animals in scientific research remains a vital tool in improving our understanding of how biological systems work both in health and disease, and in the development of new medicines, treatments and technologies. Underpinning this research is a strong commitment to maintaining a rigorous regulatory system which ensures that animal research is carried out only where no practicable alternative exists and under controls which keep suffering to a minimum. This is achieved through robustly applying the principles of the 3Rs to all research proposals involving the use of animals.

Understanding Animal Research aim to provide all you want to know about animal research, whether you are a concerned member of the public or have a special interest.

Over the past twenty years or so, there has been a ‘revolution’ in the life sciences,and our knowledge and capabilities have dramatically increased. At the same time, these advances have raised very important ethical concerns in both the scientific community and with the public at large.