Contributions to Laboratory Animal Science from Dr. Michael Festing

Dr. Michael Festing has made an enormous contribution to Laboratory Animal Science, in particular within the fields of genetics, experimental design and statistical analysis. His work has enabled many scientists to reduce the number of animals used in research.

The Norecopa database includes citations of many of his publications and resources, which are valuable tools when planning animal research and testing. The list below is a selection of these:

• 3Rs-Reduction.co.uk - an interactive website providing a short course on experimental design for research scientists. This site has now been discontinued and has been replaced by an Introduction to Experimental Design which builds on the resources on the old site. It is aimed at postgraduate participants, but with some guidance may be suitable for undergraduate researchers (About the Course). The content is focused on experimental design for studies involving animal models, but the majority of the core principles are applicable to any form of scientific research.
• Festing (2020): The "completely randomised" and the "randomised block" are the only experimental designs suitable for widespread use in pre-clinical research. Scientific Reports, 10, 17577.
• Isogenic.info - a website describing the properties of inbred strains and F1 hybrids, with pages on the theory of animal models, and the use of outbred stocks in toxicological research. This website is currently being remade. 
• The Design of Animal Experiments: Reducing the use of animals in research through better experimental design - a 144-page handbook for researchers
• Experimental Design - an interactive computer program with real-life scenarios, working examples and background theory
• The design and statistical analysis of experiments involving laboratory animals - pdf file of a presentation used on courses in Laboratory Animal Science for researchers in 2018
• Festing (2018): On determining sample size in experiments involving laboratory animals
• How to Reduce the Number of Animals Used in Research by Improving Experimental Design and Statistics. ANZCCART Fact Sheet T10, 2011
• Festing M & Altman DG (2002): Guidelines for the design and statistical analysis of experiments using laboratory animals. ILAR Journal, 43: 244-258
• Reduction of animal use: experimental design and quality of experiments - case studies of papers from toxicological journals
• Guidelines for the design and statistical analysis of experiments in papers submitted to ATLA - a discussion of the theory of design and analysis of animal experiments, and a checklist for scientists submitting to the journal
• Inbred strains in biomedical research - websites describing mice and rat strains