Planning moves forward on UW-Madison research animal forums

Planning is moving ahead on a series of community forums that aim to provide a window into the use of animals in research at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. The program was proposed earlier this year by UW-Madison Provost Paul M. DeLuca Jr. and Graduate School Dean Martin Cadwallader with the goal of increasing public discussion and understanding of issues surrounding animal research. The public forums are intended to improve transparency of the animal research program at UW-Madison and provide opportunities for interested parties to engage in an open dialogue on complex and often challenging issues. "There is one thing that we all agree on, and that is that more public discussion of these issues will be a good thing. This gives us an opportunity to accomplish that objective, to ask some really important and difficult questions," says Eric Sandgren , director of the UW-Madison Research Animal Resources Center. "One goal is to foster understanding of other perspectives.