- 2016 Chair: John Capitanio
- Allyson Bennett
- Regina Gazes
- Bonnie Perdue
- Mark Reilly
- James Rowlett
- Sangeeta Panicker
(APA Staff Liaison)
In pursuit of its mission of safeguarding and promoting ethically and scientifically sound research and teaching involving nonhuman animals in psychological science, the Committee on Animal Research and Ethics’ (CARE) focus in 2016 was on advocacy and outreach. These general goals were advanced in a number of ways that built on previous years’ progress.
Meeting with Offices of Congressional Representatives
In conjunction with its spring meeting, CARE members met with their respective congressional representatives and/or their staff to raise awareness of the role of ethical nonhuman animal research in improving the health and well being of both humans and other animals. Citing sustained campaigns of misinformation by entities opposed to nonhuman animal research, CARE members urged their congressional representatives to continue support for research with nonhuman animals and to oppose bills or amendments that impede important research with nonhuman animals. Prior to going to Capitol Hill, the committee participated in an advocacy training workshop conducted by the APA Science Government Relations Office (GRO), which provided the committee with a broad overview of Congress and mechanisms for interacting with congressional members.
Meeting with NIH Director Dr. Francis Collins
In response to a series of announcements and policy decisions by the Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Dr. Francis Collins, CARE spearheaded an APA meeting with Dr. Collins to discuss the future of NIH support for research with nonhuman primates. CARE was particularly concerned about the timing of some of the decisions, especially the impending phasing out of a longstanding intramural research program led by a prominent APA member. The research program had been the target of an intense and sustained attack campaign by a group known for its opposition to all research with nonhuman animals. APA communicated the committee’s concerns about the precedent set by the announced closing program as a result of political pressures targeting a single research program. At the meeting and in follow-up communications, Dr. Collins reaffirmed NIH support for humane and ethical research with all nonhuman animals, including most species of nonhuman primates.
Resolution Affirming Support for Research and Teaching with Nonhuman Animals
Over the last several years, CARE has noted a marked increase in activities of groups philosophically opposed to all nonhuman animal research and the successes of their public campaigns of misinformation. Upon learning that the 1990 APA Resolution on the Use of Animals in Research, Testing, and Education was now considered out of date, CARE members stressed the importance of reaffirming APA support for ethically sound and scientifically valid research as well as teaching with nonhuman animals. The committee thus began drafting a new resolution for adoption by the APA Council of Representatives in 2017.
Education at the Pre-college and Undergraduate Levels
Noting the dearth of information on the role of nonhuman animal research in psychology in high school psychology and college textbooks, CARE forged collaborations with the APA Committee of Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools (TOPSS) and the APA Committee on Associate and Baccalaureate Education (CABE). The goal is to better inform and guide efforts to develop educational materials regarding contributions and continuing importance of nonhuman animal research in psychology. One mechanism that CARE agreed to use to increase visibility of the importance of nonhuman animal research in psychology was regular submissions to Psychology Students Network (PSN), a newsletter published by the APA Education Directorate. CARE Chair John Capitanio volunteered to author the first submission to PSN.
CARE discussed its immediate and long-term goals, as well as initiatives to meet these goals, and generated a list of potential initiatives for the committee to pursue, including:
- CARE newsletter : The committee will revisit an initiative to write articles on advocacy efforts to be included in the Divisions 3, 6, 25, and 28 newsletters. Member Allyson Bennett suggested updating an article she wrote for the Science Directorate Newsletter Psychological Science Agenda in 2012, titled "Animal research: The bigger picture and why we need psychologists to speak out." The proposed article(s) would serve as a call to action and include current challenges, APA initiatives and resources for scientists to engage in outreach to the public on the importance of nonhuman animal research for the welfare of both people and other animals.
- Preparing teachers of psychology: The committee will continue to work with CABE to develop lesson plans and modules on specific content areas and to offer annual train-the-trainer workshops to enable teachers to stay current in psychological science.
- Advocacy: The committee will continue its advocacy efforts to promulgate evidence-based regulations that protect the welfare of laboratory animals, and to promote implementation of regulations and policies that ensure laboratory animal welfare while facilitating scientific progress.
Allyson Bennett, John Capitanio, Mark Reilly, and James Rowlett continued to serve on the committee in 2016, and were joined by Regina Gazes and Bonnie Perdue. Capitanio and Reilly rotated off the committee at the end of 2016, and were replaced by Michael Hennessy and Jennifer Vonk. The committee elected Dr. Rowlett to serve as the chair in 2017.