FASEB Sends Letter to NIH Director on New Policy for Use of Animals in Research

By: Galen Cobb
Thursday, June 12, 2025
FASEB has sent a letter to National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Jayanta “Jay” Bhattacharya, MD, PhD, requesting opportunities for additional stakeholder feedback on the rollout of an agency-wide initiative to reduce the use of animals in NIH-funded research. The centerpiece of the initiative is a new Office of Research Innovation, Validation, and Application (ORIVA), which will serve as the central hub for coordinating the validation and integration of new alternative methods (NAMs) across NIH institutes and centers. FASEB continues to advocate for the validation of these newer technologies and supports efforts to expand scientific capacity in alignment with the 3Rs principle. 

Additional changes proposed in the initiative focus on adapting funding and review processes to support the replacement of animal models, including the following:

• Adding human relevancy to the evaluation criteria of funding opportunities; 
• Instituting mitigation training grant review staff against bias towards animal research;
• Integrating experts on alternative methods into study sections reviewing grants; and 
• Tracking annual spending to measure progress toward a reduction of funding for animal studies and an increase for human-centered approaches.

In the letter, FASEB cautions against prioritizing the replacement of animal models prematurely, pointing to current limitations of newer technologies and the potential harm to clinical research participants if these limitations are not considered. FASEB would like to see the rollout of this initiative consider the continued need for animal models alongside the development of NAMS, with funding and review processes that prioritize science tailored to research aims and objectives.

This letter builds on other FASEB efforts to advocate for a measured approach to changing biomedical research methods, including letters sent to congressional offices opposing the SPARE Act.