Festing Wins CAAT RecognitionBy Deborah Rudacille The Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT) was established in 1981 to foster the development of scientifically acceptable in vitro and other alternatives for use in the development and safety evaluation of commercial and therapeutic products. The term alternatives is widely interpreted as any method which minimizes animal distress (refinement), reduces animal use (reduction) or replaces whole animal tests (replacement). The CAAT Recognition Awards were instituted at the Center's tenth anniversary to highlight outstanding contributions by an individual, organization or company to the development of alternative methods and are now awarded triannually at the World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences. The second World Congress was held in Utrecht in October 1996 and the CAAT Award was presented by His Royal Highness Prince Laurent of Belgium to Dr. Michael F.W. Festing of the Medical Research Council Toxicology Unit in Leicester, UK. Dr. Festing was recognized by CAAT for his work analyzing the design of animal experiments and developing statistical techniques which reduce laboratory animal use. For many years, Dr. Festing has consistently called attention to the need to use high quality, disease-free and genetically defined laboratory animals. Festing received the CAAT award for research which reveals the impact of experimental design with correct statistical analysis in improving the quality of scientific research, use of scientific resources, and minimizing animal use. | 
