Prof. J. Ritskes-Hoitinga (Merel)

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Professor Merel Ritskes-Hoitinga is a professor of Laboratory Animal Science and director of the Central Animal Laboratory (CDL). In December 2006 she set up the 3 R Research Centre (3RRC). Laboratory animal science aims to continuously improve the quality of animal testing as well as laboratory animal welfare. The three R's: Replacement, Reduction and Refinement (in other words improved welfare) of laboratory animals are a central theme. Because information concerning the three R's is spread over a hundred databases, the 3RRC was set up to support researchers to enable the three R's to be properly implemented.

The 3RRC also carries out its own research into the development of guidelines for conducting systematic literature reviews. National surveys are also conducted to discover in what ways researchers look for opportunities to apply the three R's to their own animal testing at a national level, thus improving animal welfare. The three R's are constantly developed and implemented wherever possible in the daily activities of the CDL.