Welcome

The Dr Hadwen Trust for Humane Research is the UK’s leading medical research charity that funds and promotes exclusively non-animal research techniques to replace animal experiments. Our vital work benefits humans with the development of more relevant and reliable science whilst also benefiting laboratory animals. The Dr Hadwen Trust is a registered charity established in 1970; registered charity number 261096.

Many millions of animals such as mice, dogs, rabbits, primates, guinea pigs and cats continue to be used in laboratory experiments, all of which are classified by the Home Office as having the potential to cause “pain, suffering, distress or lasting harm.” The Dr Hadwen Trust believes that deliberately subjecting sentient animals to physical and psychological pain and distress is ethically unsupportable. Animal testing is also scientifically unsatisfactory because differences between people and animal species can give rise to misleading results. We want medical research to succeed in finding treatments for human health problems. To achieve that goal we fund research projects at universities and institutes that combine the highest humane principles with the best scientific standards. The Dr Hadwen Trust has supported research in a range of fields including epilepsy, breast cancer, meningitis, asthma, diabetes, drug testing, arthritis, Parkinson's disease, lung injury, whooping cough vaccine testing, dentistry, heart disease, tropical illness, fetal development and pregnancy, brain tumours and AIDS.

The Dr Hadwen Trust also actively advises on and promotes the wider use of non-animal methods through publications, published research, education and the media. Our Scientific Director, Dr Gill Langley, served for eight years as a member of the British government's Animal Procedures Committee which advises the Home Secretary on animal experimentation matters. She has also advised the government on the introduction of the new EU chemicals legislation (REACH), and has been an invited expert on initiatives of the European Commission and of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD). Dr Langley currently represents the Dr Hadwen Trust as a member of the Replacement Advisory Group of the British National Centre for the Three Rs (Replacement, Refinement & Reduction of animals in research).

Science Room

Visit the Dr Hadwen Trust's Science Room

This is an exciting new source of information which demonstrates how vibrant the world of non-animal research is. The Science Room website aims to highlight the work of the Dr Hadwen Trust for those in the biomedical community keen to know more about this area of advanced science, as well as to stimulate thinking to address biomedical issues from new perspectives.

Focus on Alternatives - working together to replace animal experiments

The Dr Hadwen Trust is the chair of Focus on Alternatives, a coalition of expert non-governmental organisations which fund the development, or promote the acceptance of, methods that replace the use of laboratory animals in research, education and testing. Focus on Alternatives comprises members from the Dr Hadwen Trust, FRAME (Fund for the Replacement of Animals in Medical Experiments), the Humane Research Trust, UK Human Tissue Bank (UKHTB), St Andrew Animal Fund (part of Advocates for Animals), RSPCA (Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals) and the Lord Dowding Fund. Focus on Alternatives works by lobbying, facilitating access to information, educating animal researchers and by organising workshops and meetings on specific topics of concern.

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