Use of animals in research

We're proud of our work and achievements, but there’s plenty more to do before we can say we've achieved our mission of beating blood cancer.

Some of the biggest achievements in beating blood cancer – such as understanding development of disease and the basis for chemotherapy and stem cell transplants – have only been made possible using animals in research.

We are a member of the Association of Medical Research Charities (AMRC) who provide leadership, governance and monitor compliance in funding high-quality, world-class research. It is a mandatory requirement of member that we are open and transparent about our commitment to animal research, and we support their position statement on the use of animals in research.

We are signatories to the Concordat on Openness in Animal Research in the UK. As part of our commitment to openness, we share annual information on the proportion of our grants that involve animal research – in 2022, this figure was 27%.

All researchers applying for funding are recommended to use the make use of the ARRIVE guidelines when designing their experiments and ensure that they report in vivo studies in accordance with the ARRIVE guidelines as far as possible.

We also mandate that all funded researchers adhere to the Guidelines for the Welfare and Use of Animals in Cancer Research as set out by Workman et al. 2010 and implement the principles in the NC3Rs guidelines (including justification of species, details of power calculations and plans to minimise experimental bias).

During peer reviewer, we ask our reviewers to comment on animal use proposed in applications and that the study is not duplication of work already undertaken. All funded research must have ethical approval before the research begins.