Workshop 15: Alternative models for pharmacology education to reduce the reliance on rodent models
Tracks
Track 1
Monday, July 13, 2026 |
2:00 PM - 4:00 PM |
Details
This workshop aims to explore innovative and ethical approaches to pharmacology education by shifting away from the traditional reliance on rodent models. With increasing emphasis on the 3Rs (Replacement, Reduction, Refinement) and the evolving landscape of scientific tools, this session will highlight alternative teaching models, including computational simulations, organ-on-a-chip technologies, use of worm, fish and human-based in vitro systems. In addition to alternative models for pharmacology, this workshop will explore the role of storytelling as an effective teaching tool to make pharmacology and pharmacy accessible across diverse audiences. Leading educators, researchers and educational storytellers will share insights on integrating these approaches into curricula, addressing both the scientific and ethical imperatives. By fostering a dialogue on modern, humane, engaging and effective teaching methods, this workshop will provide attendees with practical strategies to enhance pharmacology education without compromising educational or research outcomes.
Speaker
Dr Slade Matthews
Sydney Pharmacy School, The University of Sydney
State-of-the-art Machine Learning Models for Toxicological Risk Assessment
Biography
Slade Matthews is a researcher and educator whose career has been marked by his dedication to the intersection of biomedical science and machine learning. He is committed to fostering mathematical literacy among students and has made contributions to both research and education in the field. He holds two teaching awards for university teaching. Recognizing the importance of effective pedagogy, Slade completed a Graduate Certificate in Higher Education in 2011. He has a Bachelor of Medical Science, Honours (1995) which included an investigation into the venom of the Australian copperhead snake using classical pharmacological bioassays, chromatography, and electrophysiology. His doctoral research (PhD 2007) focussed on the integration of machine learning techniques for cell classification tasks and modelling relationships in clinical data. Slade's primary research focus centres on the fusion of experimental design, statistical analysis, and machine learning to investigate biomedical problems, especially in toxicology. He has published 43 publications in peer-reviewed journals and has been cited 1275 times.
Dr Aidan Seeley
Swansea University
Lumbriculus variegatus as an emerging invertebrate model for pharmacological research and education
Biography
Dr Aidan Seeley is a Senior Lecturer in Medical Pharmacology at Swansea University where he leads the Swansea Worm Integrative Research Laboratory (SWIRL). Through SWIRL, Aidan has developed Lumbriculus variegatus as an organism for pharmacological research and education, funded by the British Pharmacological Society and the Natural Environment Research Council. His research focuses on the behavioural effects of diverse pharmacologically active compounds in this novel model organism, as well as pedagogical research on assessment methods and inclusive curricula.
Dr Roisin Kelly-Laubscher
University College Cork
Designing Non-Rodent Practicals to Embed Ethics and Data Skills in Pharmacology Education
Biography
Dr Roisin Kelly-Laubscher is a Senior Lecturer in Pharmacology & Therapeutics at University College Cork, Ireland. She combines expertise in cardiovascular research with leadership in pharmacology education. Her education research focuses on promoting transparency and fairness in assessment to ensure equitable student success, alongside innovations in authentic learning and concept-based curriculum development. She co-leads the international Core Concepts of Pharmacology project within IUPHAR and has published widely on curriculum design, core pharmacological concepts, and epistemological access.
Nicole Jones
UNSW Sydney
A series of prac classes using crickets as a novel invertebrate model to demonstrate the pharmacological actions of central nervous system (CNS) drugs
Biography
Associate Professor Nicole Jones is the head of the Neuropharmacology and Brain Injury group in School of Biomedical Sciences (SBMS) and Associate Dean of Postgraduate Research Training in Faculty of Medicine and Health at UNSW, Sydney. She completed her PhD in Pharmacology at Monash University (Melbourne), and postdoctoral fellowships at Eli Lilly (UK and USA) and the Howard Florey Institute (Melbourne). Since 2008, she has been a leading Neuroscience educator across different programs in SBMS (predominantly Neuropharmacology), demonstrating impact through the design and implementation of innovative teaching initiatives to motivate and engage students, resulting in enhanced student outcomes.
Session chair
Katie Couborough
University of Strathclyde
Aidan Seeley
Swansea University
