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Paul Flecknell, PhD, widely recognized for his expertise in the identification and management of pain in laboratory animals, is the 2009 recipient of the Charles River Laboratories' Excellence in Refinement Award. This award was presented on September 3 at the 7th World Congress on Alternatives and Animal Use in the Life Sciences in Rome.

Sponsored by Charles River Laboratories, in cooperation with the Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing (CAAT), the award honors an individual who has made an outstanding contribution to the development, promotion and/or implementation of refinement alternatives. "Refinement," one of the "3Rs of alternatives," refers to methods aimed at minimizing pain and distress for laboratory animals.

For much of his career, Flecknell has been devoted to making life less painful for laboratory animals. His efforts have greatly enhanced both the understanding of the complex nature of pain in laboratory animals and the ability to provide animals with effective pain relief. His work is cited in nearly every paper that discusses pain in lab animals.

Flecknell currently is director of the Comparative Biology Centre at the University of Newcastle (UK) and professor of Laboratory Animal Science. His main research interests are anesthesia and analgesia of all species of animals and, in particular, the development of methods of pain assessment and alleviation.

The Charles River Laboratories Excellence in Refinement Award, which includes $5,000 to further the recipient's scientific endeavors, was established in 2005. The first award, presented at the 5th World Congress in Berlin, was given jointly to Dr. Bert van Zutphen and Dr. Georgia Mason. Dr. Linda Toth received the 2007 award. For more information about CAAT awards, see http://caat.jhsph.edu/programs/awards.

For information on the Charles River Laboratories' "Humane Care Initiative," please see http://www.criver.com/en-US/AboutUs/HumaneCareInitiative/Pages/home.aspx

For information about the Johns Hopkins Center for Alternatives to Animal Testing, please see http://caat.jhsph.edu.
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