CAAT Newsletter: Vol. 14, No. 2, Winter 1997

Director's Diary

By Alan M. Goldberg, Ph.D.

This issue of the CAAT Newsletter is devoted to the 2^nd World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences. A magnificent meeting, hosted by Bert van Zutphen and our Dutch colleagues, was held in Utrecht, the Netherlands. What a personally rewarding feeling I had at the opening activities when we looked out at a registered crowd of nearly 1,000 colleagues from 37 different countries.

Some seven years ago, I had a dream about those of us working in the 3Rs of alternatives coming together on a regular basis to exchange ideas, meet our colleagues, encourage each other and push the field of alternatives as a major discipline. When I approached Bert van Zutphen to co-organize the first meeting with me and to host the second, I knew that his acceptance of the idea was a first step in having the dream come true.

For me, there were so many highlights to the meeting that it is difficult to even think about limiting them. The focus on animal ethics and animal welfare, databases, and validation are important to me and were among the sessions that I personally attended. The plenary lectures covered broad topic ranges and raised some very important issues on the use of transgenic animals, and how to apply the 3Rs in trying to study and understand emerging diseases. The Awards Ceremony hosted by Prince Laurent of Belgium mixed sociability with science and we collectively recognized important contributions. The other wonderful social events were a superb expression of Dutch hospitality.

Having lived in Holland in the 1970's and being a frequent visitor to the country, I was looking forward not only to the meeting, but also to seeing friends and colleagues from other disciplines. The meeting was so busy and so filled, that if I had a disappointment, it was that I didn't have time to see those other friends and colleagues.

As Bert and I decided at the first World Congress, the subsequent Congress will be hosted by Bert's co-organizer, Dr. Michael Balls. The meeting is scheduled for 1999 and will be held in Bologna, Italy. Our progress is very real, our successes are becoming numerous and alternative methodologies are becoming more broadly and widely accepted.

I hope the images and articles in this newsletter give you a glimpse of the activities, excitement and enthusiasm of Utrecht.