Jeffrey Bajramovic is the new head of the 3Rs Centre
2 years agoJeffrey Bajramovic is the new head of the 3Rs Centre and thus the successor of Jan van der Valk, who recently retired. The 3Rs Centre has acquired a more central place in Utrecht now that it is linked to the Animal Welfare Body Utrecht, which is active for both Utrecht University and the UMC Utrecht. At the same time, the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine, where the 3Rs Centre was housed for many years, remains involved.
Here’s Jeffrey Bajramovic (J.J.Bajramovic@uu.nl), head of the 3Rs Centre as of 1 July, introducing himself: “I graduated in biology from the University of Leiden. I did my PhD in neuroimmunology through TNO, where I got to know about animal-free technology, and where I was a pioneer in using human brain tissue as the source for research with cultured cells.
Alternatives
After that I worked at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, where I learned to work with neurotropic viruses and got into everything else that makes life worth living. After returning to the Netherlands, I led a research group at BPRC in Rijswijk whose aim was to develop alternatives to animal testing.
“I’m looking forward to meeting everyone active in this field”
Enthusiastic
I love good food, travel, culture and sports. You’ll often find me in the bouldering hall in my free time. My wife and I have two small children. I’m terribly enthusiastic about all the animal-free innovations that are reshaping the research landscape, and I feel at home in Utrecht’s progressive environment. I’m looking forward to meeting everyone active in this field.”
Jeffrey is now familiarizing himself with his new workplace. In the autumn he will unfold his ideas about his work in an interview. In the autumn he will unfold his first ideas in an interview.
The 3Rs and the transition
The Life Sciences deans find that the 3Rs Centre is valuable, and in concert with TPI Utrecht it can play an important part in realising the ambitions for development and application of animal-free methods in research and education. A lot of work needs to be done in Reduction of laboratory animal numbers and Refinement of animal experiments as well, and that’s where the input of the 3Rs Centre is important.