ASPET Participates in PEER’s Inaugural Hill Day
By Marah Wahbeh, PhD, and Carter L. Alleman JD, CAE
On October 14, 2025, ASPET joined 21 other organizations to participate in the People for Effective and Ethical Research (PEER)’s inaugural Hill Day to educate and speak to Congress about the importance of the ethical use of animals in biomedical research.
PEER is a new coalition that ASPET is proud to be part of. It was created to address the growing concern about the perception of the use of animals in biomedical research with policymakers and the public, especially in the last year. Between animal rights groups increasing the pressure on the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to cancel research grants involving the use of animals and pushing NIH to eliminate using animals in research entirely, to congressional hearings like the one held by the U.S. House Oversight Subcommittee with the title “Transgender Lab Rats and Poisoned Puppies” to, notably, the current administration prioritizing reducing the use of animals in research, it became clear that the scientific community needed to step up and speak out about what is truly at stake if animals are to be phased out of scientific research.
Much of this pressure to abandon the use of animals in research comes from the promises New Approach Methodologies (NAMs) provide to the process of drug development and research discovery. Even though the use of animals in research has been essential and crucial to the breakthrough of therapeutic drugs, many see hope and optimism in the oversimplified narratives that portray NAMs as true alternatives for using animals in the drug development process. A major aspect of PEER’s Hill Day goals was to educate staffers on how the capabilities of NAMs today should not be overhyped as it leads to policy decisions that outpace the scientific readiness of these currently available technologies, posing major risks to public health.
Scientists from the PEER organizations, including ASPET’s Dr. Sally Huskinson, spoke about their research, how they use animals in their studies, and explained the ethical oversight processes, such as what an Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) does. Attendees emphasized how animals continue to have an essential role in research, how scientists prioritize the care of these animals, and how investing in biomedical research benefits everyone, including animals.
All staffers, regardless of party affiliation, were receptive to hearing stories from constituents and scientists. Surprisingly, many staffers expressed that they had not heard about this issue at all prior to meeting with us, or that they had only heard about it from the perspective of animal rights groups. This highlighted a major gap in scientists’ involvement in educating Congress about the importance of animals in research, and emphasized how Hill Days are crucial to making sure scientists’ voices are heard. It also reminded us that we need to build understanding from the ground up and find commonality through shared goals of safety, transparency, and progress.
Overall, the Hill Day experience was productive, and underscored just how much work remains for us to do to make sure policymakers understand the real-world implications of phasing away the use of animals in research.
PEER will continue to build on the momentum of this Hill Day by maintaining contact with congressional offices and providing them with updates. ASPET will continue to engage with PEER, and conversations about animals in research in the future, through Hill Days and other advocacy opportunities. If you are interested in participating in future advocacy work with ASPET in this area, please contact the government affairs department at publicaffairs@aspet.org.
