Fifth Annual Scientific Sessions of the SLALAS

Fifth Annual Scientific Sessions of the Sri Lanka Association for Laboratory Animal Science (SLALAS) was successfully held on 25th and 26th of January at the Waters Edge, Battaramulla, under the theme “3Rs and Beyond: Joining Forces Towards Alternatives to Animal Experimentation“. This year, attempts were taken to specially focus on “Establishing a Culture of Care” and “Alternatives to Animal Experimentation”.
International and national experts shared their experiences and thoughts on topics related to the theme and the conference was well attended by scientists involved in biomedical research. Professor Lakshman Dissanayake, Vice Chancellor of the University of Colombo was the chief Guest of the conference, while several academic staff members at the University of Colombo, including Dr. Tharanga Thoradeniya (President), Prof. Mangala Gunatilake (Council member), Prof. Saroj Jayasinghe (Guest Speaker) and Prof. Samantha Weerasignhe (Guest speaker) played leading roles in the event.
Ethics Review Committees need to play an integral part in establishment and propagation of ‘Culture of Care’ among researchers. Hence, a dialogue was created with the stakeholders to develop and implement a harmonised protocol for reviewing and monitoring of animal experiments in Sri Lanka. The event laid a stepping stone to a sustained path leading to establishing a ‘Culture of Care’ and promotion of alternatives to animal experiments.