Pascalle van Loo new chair Willy van Heumen Fund

In doing so, Pascalle succeeds Ben Hamel, who has been chair since 2018 and is stepping down from the foundation. The Willy van Heumen Fund, or the 'Stimulation Fund Alternatives to Laboratory Animals' foundation, is committed to improving animal welfare by promoting alternatives to laboratory animal use within research. An important part of this is the Willy van Heumen Prize, which is awarded once every two years to a person or organisation in the Netherlands that has made special merits in this field. The prize, a grant of €15,000, can be spent on animal welfare as it sees fit.

The foundation approached Van Loo because of her nuanced view on experimental animal science, the 3Rs and TPI.  'Pascale's motivation to always keep looking for the connection makes her the ideal chair of the board and provides enormous added value for the foundation,' said fund secretary Bas de Waard. 'On behalf of the foundation, I would like to thank Ben immensely for his contribution to the foundation during his time as chair.'

Van Loo is honoured to chair the Willy van Heumen Fund. 'The Willy van Heumen Prize is an important stimulus for the development of alternatives to animal testing. I am happy to contribute to that.'