Mikalah Singer, JD, LLM

Mikalah Singer, JD, LLM, is a science policy specialist with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. She works to advance human-centered research at the National Institutes of Health and to encourage the broader use of nonanimal methods in biomedical research and transition away from animal use, including nonhuman primates. In collaboration with other members of the research and regulatory affairs team, she engages with NIH leadership and staff, researchers, lawmakers, and the public to promote policy changes and funding opportunities for nonanimal methods.

To encourage the broader use of human-based methods, Ms. Singer coordinates the ERA21 program, which provides virtual and in-person education, training, and career development opportunities to students and scientists. Part of this program includes, our flagship training event, the Summer Immersion on Innovative Approaches in Science, which was named a winner of the NCATS Translational Science Education and Training Challenge by the National Institutes of Health. Ms. Singer is also part of the collaborative international effort to characterize and address the bias toward animal-based methods within medical research: the Coalition to Illuminate and Address Animal Methods Bias (COLAAB).

Prior to joining the Physicians Committee, Ms. Singer completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and was part of the Toxicology Policy Program. She earned a Juris Doctor, certificate in animal law, and Master of Laws in environmental, natural resources, and energy law from Lewis & Clark Law School. In 2024, Ms. Singer received the Rising Star Award from the Lewis & Clark Law School Alumni Board for her dedication to animal protection.

Ms. Singer is a fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and a member of the Oregon Bar Association, Society of Toxicology, and Society for Scholarly Publishing.

Read more about Ms. Singer’s work:

Why lab monkey escapes demand transparency (MedPageToday/KevinMD.com)

About 100,000 monkeys are captive in U.S. Labs; we urge a shift to humane human-based research (Lookout Santa Cruz)

Creating Training Opportunities in New Approach Methodologies for Early-Career Researchers

Addressing animal methods bias through government-led initiatives

With what should we replace nonhuman animals in biomedical research protocols? (American Medical Association Journal of Ethics)

Better science, fewer animals: catalyzing NIH grant making to improve biomedical research and meet societal goals

The Humane Research and Testing Act: advancing science by creating a new Center for Alternatives at the US National Institutes of Health