Engaging Researchers in Animal-Free 21st Century Science

Upcoming Events:

Qureator's Human-Based Technology for Toxicology Research: Facility Tour and Hands-on Workshop

Date: Sunday, March 22, 2026
Time: 12:30 - 4:45 PM
Location: San Diego, California

Register

The Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine and Qureator are partnering to host a free, hands-on workshop to showcase Qureator technology and its applications. Participants will tour the facility, hear from scientists working with the models, gain first-hand experience and hear from leaders working to advance human-specific nonanimal approaches.

This event is limited to 20 participants. Prior to the event, you will receive confirmation of your participation and information about where to meet for transportation. There is no virtual option for this event.

2026 Summer Immersion on Innovative Approaches in Science

Date: June 15-18, 2026
Location: Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, Baltimore, MD

Apply Now

The Summer Immersion is a FREE four-day program that provides an overview of in vitro, in silico, and in chemico approaches and their many applications in basic, translational, and regulatory science to replace animals. Attendees will participate in scientific talks, career development workshops, poster presentations, technology demonstrations, case studies, networking opportunities, and more.

The Summer Immersion welcomes undergraduate and graduate students, post-docs and early-career scientists interested or engaged in academic, industry, or government research in biomedical sciences, including toxicology, pharmacology, genetics, bioinformatics, biomedical engineering and other related disciplines. Application deadline is April 3, 2026.

Past Events:

New Era of Biomedical Research: How Human-Specific Methods are Transforming Science

On November 20, 2025, at the Annual Biomedical Research Conference for Minoritized Scientists (ABRCMS) in San Antonio, Jon McCord, PhD and Itzy Morales Pantoja, PhD presented on human-specific research methods. Speakers discussed how these methods are being increasingly prioritized by federal agencies and embraced by many in the scientific community. The session provided valuable insight into nonanimal methods for an audience ranging from undergraduate students through faculty.

ERA21 Travel Award Winners Series: Zheng Tan, PhD & Alessandra Maria Anna Rando, MS

The October 23 webinar featured travel awardees from the 2025 Microphysiological Systems World Summit. Zheng Tan, PhD discussed a human-based skin-lymphoreticular model-on-chip to emulate inflammatory skin conditions and Alessandra Maria Anna Rando, MS shared her work on tricompartmental in vitro models of the intestinal barrier for regulatory-compliant drug absorption studies.

ERA21 Travel Award Winners Series: Martina Iulini, PharmD, PhD & Dre’Von Dobson, PhD

On September 24, 2025, travel awardees from the 2025 Society of Toxicology Annual Meeting joined us in a virtual webinar to present their research. Dr. Iulini discussed her project: Toward sustainable immunotoxicology: an animal-free culture medium model for TD and TI antibody response assay and Dr. Dobson shared his work on the effects of controlled wood smoke exposure on markers of thrombosis.

Hesperos Technology for Toxicology Research: From Development to Approval

On March 16, 2025, the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine, the Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing, and Hesperos are partnered to host a free, hands-on workshop to showcase Hesperos technology and applications. A limited number of participants toured the facility and built three different human-on-a-chip models, heard from scientists working with the models, and sat down with leaders in the field, Drs. J Hickman and Thomas Hartung to discuss advancing human-specific non-animal approaches.

A Biotechnology Showcase in Human-specific Nonanimal Research and Testing

On February 14, 2025 a workshop at the American Association for the Advancement of Science Annual Meeting showcased cutting-edge, human-specific models, like organ-chip technologies, that offer more precise, translatable, effective, and ethical means of investigation. Participants learned about various human-focused approaches through live demonstrations, expert talks, and collaborative discussions, exploring the potential and practical applications of these advanced models. Featured presentations included: Emulate, InSphero, MIMETAS, MatTek, and the Wyss Institute at Harvard University.

The ERA21 Journal Club meets at conferences and provides a forum for early-career scientists, undergraduate, master’s, and PhD students to meet and discuss relevant research articles on human-relevant biomedical research, toxicology, and policy. 

Upcoming Events: 

More events coming soon.

Past Events:

The Future of 3D Brain Cultures in Developmental Neurotoxicity Testing

American Society for Cellular and Computational Toxicology Annual Meeting, Gaithersburg, MD, USA 
Date: October 22, 2025
Time: 12-1 PM