PhD student – Kevin Herrera-Keane
Sponsor – Animal Free Research UK
Supervisor - Sylwia Ammoun
While searching for the right project I came across a PhD opportunity at the University of Plymouth that was focused on brain tumours. After reading some research papers produced by the group, I decided to apply.
I am funded by a fantastic charity called Animal Free Research UK. Using an in vitro model of meningioma and schwannoma brain tumours, I have completely removed animals such as mice from our experimental design. I also agreed with the charity that wherever possible I would use non-animal derived products during the research. In addition, I am repurposing drugs that have already reached advanced stages of development, to further eliminate the need for more research involving animals.
With Animal Free Research UK funding my project, I have attended their conferences, online seminars, and other events that I might never have known about if I had not been linked to them funding-wise. I even gave a short presentation of my research, which was exciting. I can appreciate now that considering external sources of funding for research can broaden your horizons. You end up engaging with people and looking at research-related topics from fresh perspectives. Along with a lot of networking with scientists so that's been great.
