Print the pageThe History of FRAME
The Early Years
FRAME was founded by Dorothy Hegarty who was introduced to the Three Rs by the biologist Charles Foister.
1969 - FRAME registered as a UK charity
The main aim of FRAME has always been to promote the Three Rs as a way forward for animal experimentation. FRAME had a starting fund of £100 and was first based in a room in the Hegarty house in Wimbledon, London. Eventually, money from donations provided a salary for a secretary.
Soon, enough funds were available for FRAME to rent a shop in Worple Rd, Raynes Park, London where FRAME was based for almost a decade. Here, FRAME strove to raise awareness about alternative methods and raise funds from trusts, companies and other sources.
1978 - Royal Society symposium
FRAME held a symposium at the Royal Society on the Use of Alternatives in Drug Research. One participant, Dr Michael Balls, a zoologist from the University of Nottingham, later became a FRAME trustee.
In 1981, Michael Balls became Chairman of the FRAME trustees and FRAME moved to Nottingham. Soon after, a research programme and links with the University of Nottingham were established.
1979 - The first FRAME Toxicity Committee established
The FRAME Toxicity Committee presented its first report on alternatives to using animals for toxicity testing at the Animals and Alternatives in Toxicity Testing conference, organised by FRAME, and held at the Royal Society in 1982.
1983 - ATLA relaunched
With the help of funding from the Maurice Laing Foundation, ATLA, formerly a pamphlet style publication, was relaunched as a peer-reviewed international scientific journal. Today, ATLA has an international readership and is received by a wide range of academic and industrial scientists.
1983 - FRAME acts as advisor to the government
FRAME joined with the British Veterinary Association (BVA) and the Committee for the Reform of Animal Experimentation (CRAE) to advise the government on the Animals (Scientific Procedures) Act. This act came into force in 1986.
1984 - FRAME receives first ever government grant to research replacement methods
1986 - FRAME expands
FRAME expanded into new premises on the first floor of Eastgate House in the historic Lace Market area of Nottingham. In the same year, FRAME received the first Marchig Animal Welfare Award from the World Society for the Protection of Animals (WSPA). The following year, Michael Balls became one of the founder members of the Animals Procedures Committee.
1989 - The INVITTOX database
INVITTOX, a collection of protocols for in vitro methods in toxicology, was established. This database is now part of ECVAM's Scientific Information Service.
1991- the FRAME Alternatives Laboratory (FAL) opened
To this day, the FAL is still conducting research into alternatives at the University of Nottingham Medical School. FRAME provides a block grant every year to sustain the research at FAL.
1995- Opening of Russell & Burch House
The FRAME office relocated to the newly built Russell & Burch House, Nottingham.
1998- Focus on Alternatives
FRAME became a founder member of Focus on Alternatives. This represented a significant step to promote dialogue between all UK groups that focus on replacement alternatives. Today, Focus on Alternatives includes a number of UK-based charities.
1999- First annual FRAME lecture
Bill Russell delivered the first annual FRAME Lecture at the Royal Society of Medicine. In 2005, the Annual Lecture was renamed the Bill Annett Lecture in memory of Bill Annett, and in recognition of his life long commitment to FRAME.
2000-2003 Replacement alternatives accepted for regulatory testing
EU regulators accepted the first three replacement alternatives to animal-based toxicity testing. One of these, a phototoxicity test, had been validated in a 1997 study that involved the FAL.