Abstract
LASA would like to announce some exciting events which are scheduled for 2021.
Though there is an abundance of preclinical models of psychiatric ‘diseases’, their perception and use as models of a complete disorder rather than a model of a behavioural phenotype is contributing to poor translation and is undermining confidence in behavioural neuroscience as a means to develop new therapeutics for psychiatric disorders. Furthermore, preclinical (predictive) screens for psychotropic drugs are essential for drug discovery but are often used incorrectly as animal ‘models’ of psychiatric disorders, or to study ‘disorder-like’ behaviours.
The British Pharmacological Society and Laboratory Animal Science Association recognise these inconsistencies and have come together to deliver a joint symposium to highlight the role of preclinical models in translational psychopharmacology. This 1-day workshop will be held in London on 24 February 2021, with options for delegates to register for live streaming of the event during the day. This provides an increased opportunity for international delegates to hear from a range of scientific experts in this field.
During the London event on 24 February 2021, there will also be two other parallel workshops organised by LASA. These are:
1. LASA’s annual half-day PELH training session, which will focus on the core job for new/recent (three years)/prospective Establishment Licence Holders.
Feedback from previous attendees has indicated this is also an ideal CPD refresher opportunity for all PELHs (no matter how experienced!)
Topics include:
Legal and ethical requirements related to the ASPA The role of the Establishment Licence Holder and their responsibilities Ensuring compliance Challenging aspects of the PELH’s role What to do when things go wrong Open forum discussion for sharing ideas on governance Q&A opportunity
2. LASA’s ‘What does good governance mean in laboratory animal science?’ workshop
Topics include:
What does good governance look like? How does governance relate to good science? What does a culture of care look like? How can you benchmark your establishment? – Interactive session Do external audits assist with identifying areas for improvement? International collaboration – the good, the bad and the ugly Review and ideas for updating the Guiding Principles for Named Training and Competency Officers (NTCO), Named Information Officers (NIO) and Home Office Liaison Contacts (HOLC) working under the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act 1986 – Group discussion work
This will be followed by LASA’s wine reception and the incoming LASA President’s address: ‘LASA’s strategy for the coming years’ presented by Jill Reckless, CEO, RxCelerate Ltd.
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LASA is also working closely with the BPS Neuropharmacology Affinity Group to organise an interactive one-day workshop with the Psychiatry Consortium, which will follow on from the BPS/LASA February 2021 event.
The Psychiatry Consortium is a strategic collaboration of leading medical research charities (ARUK and MQ) and pharmaceutical companies (J&J, Takeda, MSD, Biogen, BI and Lundbeck) focusing on the challenge of identifying and validating novel drug targets for psychiatric diseases. The Psychiatry Consortium aims to facilitate the discovery and validation of new drug discovery targets from academia, and to bring together the psychiatric research community to overcome key challenges facing psychiatric drug discovery. In this capacity, they propose a combined effort to build upon the issues raised in the BPS/LASA symposium, and further explore the use of preclinical models in psychiatric drug discovery, utilising the experience of all those involved along the translational pathway. The workshop will provide a 360 overview of the status of preclinical models of psychiatric disorders – their validity and scope for successful translation. A key aim of the workshop will be to outline a set of minimum requirements for preclinical models in a variety of co-morbid psychiatric symptoms (and highlight how to use them correctly) to increase the chance of successful translation to the clinic.
LASA also have their annual scientific meeting with a large trade exhibition scheduled from Tuesday 23 to Thursday 25 November 2021 on the south coast of England in Brighton – so save these dates in your diary for 2021!
For all LASA events, contact the Secretariat for registration forms: