NIH to Prioritize Human-Relevant Research—Marking a Turning Point for Patients and Animals

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) has declared a fundamental change in its funding, away from cruel and outdated experiments on animals and shifting both money and focus toward non-animal research methods—a move that PETA has called on it to do for years. In its announcement, NIH has adopted several recommendations from Research Modernization NOW—our strategy for replacing animals with more effective research methods—including expanding funding, training, and infrastructure for non-animal methods and mitigating bias towards experiments on animals in NIH grant review panels, a problem that PETA scientists recently exposed in a first-of-its-kind study. NIH’s announcement ushers in a new era of science—one rooted in relevance, compassion, and innovation. PETA looks forward to supporting this transformative shift and ensuring it results in real, lasting change for both humans and other animals.