Hi! My name is Julia. I would say one of the things people notice about me pretty quickly is my love for animals and passion for animal welfare. From adopting stray cats, volunteering in a cat rescue or being vegan, my goal in life is to continuously contribute to this cause. For this reason, I chose to work with FRAME, the fund for replacement of animals in medical experiments this summer as part of my leadership in action project.
As a biology student that wants to pursue research in the future, I am very aware of the amount of animal testing that takes place in my field and have always felt uncomfortable about sacrificing my beliefs for my career. Hence, working with FRAME and having the opportunity to experience working in an animal free lab, while also contributing to the charity's vision of ending animal suffering for science seemed pretty perfect!
The Plan
Together with Amy Beale, FRAME's head of policy & programmes, Juliet Dukes, FRAME's research manager and Andrew Bennet, the director of the FRAME lab at the University of Nottingham, we devised a plan for my project titled:
"Increasing the awareness of non-animal models when researching neurodegenerative diseases".
It doesn’t sound too fancy I know, but behind this short sentence lies an extremely rewarding, challenging and varied project that taught me so much and opened my eyes to so many new possibilities for biological research that do not include the use of animals.
The lab had just put together a new protocol where they isolated monocytes (specific white blood cells) from leftover donated blood from blood banks (which would otherwise go to waste). Then, over the course of fourteen days these cells were developed into microglia, extremely important cells that reside in the central nervous system and play a huge role in the development of neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's or Parkinson's disease. This protocol allowed the lab to carry out experiments on human microglia to investigate neurodegeneration and neuroinflammation. My job was to film and produce a video of the protocol that could be shared with the charity's followers.
I was based in the FRAME lab in the University of Nottingham Medical School. It was here that I met the lab's two PhD students, two master's students and undergraduate intern as well as the lab manager/technician. This group of individuals had an infectious passion and dedication for their work which I felt had to be shared. So I also decided to add two other videos to my project:
a) Meet the FRAME lab interviews to introduce the public to the hard working people in the lab and also inspire younger scientists to follow in their footsteps.
b) 60 second thesis challenges, to give the lab's PhD students an opportunity to share their amazing work with followers of FRAME.
The Process
Once the plan was finalised, all that was left was filming and editing! Straight forward right? That's what I thought anyway. However, what I didn't realise was the steep learning curve ahead of me.
As someone that has some experience in editing but very little in filming and videography, that had just assumed responsibility for coordinating, filming, and producing a pretty important video, I was hit with the realisation that I need to either start learning quickly or fake it till' I make it. So I did a bit of both! My Laidlaw leadership training equipped me with many strengths but also taught me to be open to learning. So I did. First, I did what I love doing: planning. I made storyboards, scripts, weekly plans and put together a filming schedule that would fit the time frame. Then I started learning. I signed up for filming courses online, I read articles on filming scientific videos and brushed up on my editing skills. After a week, I was ready to go.
Thanks to all the pre-planning, filming went extremely well and we finished ahead of schedule, which gave me plenty of time to edit, observe the amazing experiments in the lab, and explore Nottingham. It must be said that this project could not have run half as smoothly if it wasn't for the amazing support I got from the members of the lab and FRAME. We all made a great team, and thanks to them, the project was a success.
The Achievements
I think everyone involved in this project learned a lot, especially me. To only mention a few:
- I got my dream of working in an animal free lab. It allowed me to make connections with like minded people and observe so much interesting, innovative, and inspiring biology. It also gave me a comforting image of being able to pursue biomedical research without working on animals.
- I developed my independence, assertiveness and forward thinking. Since I was my own boss, I had to plan my day, and make sure it aligned with the schedules of those that I was going to be filming with etc. Though intimidating at first, I think in the latter stages I got the hang of it and ended up enjoying it even.
- I got an insight into how a charity is run. Through attending staff meetings, content meetings and more with the members of FRAME, an almost fully female run organisation, I had the opportunity to observe so many different leadership styles, effective project management and healthy communication in action.
- I proved to myself that I am a capable and resilient person. Before flying to Nottingham, I was extremely nervous about living on my own. I was worried about getting lonely, not making friends and honestly just being extremely miserable. However, I am happy to say I could not have been more wrong. I immediately got along with everyone in the lab. They were so welcoming and showed me around different parts of the city. In addition, I actually ended up enjoying my own company, it just took a little while to get used to it. I managed absolutely fine and that really gave me a confidence boost.
The Project's Impact
Though the impact of my LiA may not be as obvious as others, I believe the videos I created will raise awareness on animal research and the alternatives available. I also hope it will inspire others to ask questions and contribute to this cause instead of simply following the norm of animal research. 2.76 million experiments used animals in British labs, in 2022. In the world, that number increases to 100 - 150 million. However, there has been a 10% decrease in experiments using animals since 2021 so there is hope and any work for this cause can make a difference!
Final Words
I know that the majority of us say this after our LiA's but this project changed me in so many good ways and I am so grateful for the people I met, and experiences I had. Because of this, I plan to continue working with FRAME and cannot wait to see what comes next!