Who We Are
Founded in 1970, the British Columbia Foundation for Non-Animal Research (BCFNAR) shepherds and honours the legacy of Evelyn Martin, R.N. in an effort to replace the use of animals in medical research, testing and education.
The Foundation provides grants to emerging or established scientists for biomedical experiments or teaching methods that do not involve animal use. This can also include capital equipment and software which facilitates the replacement of animal use in teaching or training.
The Foundation is also committed to supporting a diverse range of creative methods that challenge the use of animals in research, testing, and education and encourages the adoption of alternatives to harmful animal use across Canada.
Our Goals
Every year, millions of animals suffer severely in laboratory experiments — with results that often cannot be extended with dependability to human beings.
The B.C. Foundation for Non-Animal Research was founded to help fund and promote alternative methods of research and to work toward replacing the use of animals in laboratory procedures.
Many alternative techniques are available with new and better methods constantly being discovered, such as:
- tissue and cell culture
- computer and mathematical modelling
- mechanical models
- computerized mannequins
- human studies
- use of lower organisms (eg, bacteria)
The more it is realized that good research can be done without animals, the better, because alternatives are usually faster, cheaper and more reliable.
Each project we fund increases scientific knowledge while at the same time reducing the number of animals involved in research.
Our History and Achievements
Many animal lovers would like to donate to medical research, but they are put off by the cruel use of animals in many labs. In 1970, Evelyn Martin, a Vancouver nurse, faced such a dilemma and attacked it head on. She founded the B.C. Foundation for Non-Animal Research, which directs donations exclusively to researchers who use modern, alternative methods such as computer modeling and adult human skin cell cultures.
2024 BC FNAR Grant Recipients
In 2024, BC FNAR is pleased to announce we are providing award grants to two recipients and we would like to thank all applicants for their submissions. The successful applicants are:
Stephanie Willerth of UVic, whose project uses bioprinting to generate human neural tissues to study neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s disease. She is awarded $10,000 for her research.
Anotida Madzvamuse of UBC, whose project is building towards synthetic artificial cells using mathematics for biomedical research. He is awarded $7,500 for his research.
Full Professor in Biomedical Engineering
Director of the Nanotherapeutics Cluster
Department of Mechanical Engineering and Division of Medical Sciences
University of Victoria
Affiliate Professor in the School of Biomedical Engineering
University of British Columbia
Canada Research Chair (Tier 1) in Theoretical and
Computational Biology (2023-2030)
University of British Columbia
2022 BC FNAR Grant Recipient
BC FNAR is proud to announce our 2022 successful grant applicant, the Animal Alliance of Canada Fund, for their proposal of research identifying Non-Animal Methods (NAM’s) for the replacement of animal methods in the three primary areas of animal use in Canada.
2021 BC FNAR Grant Recipient
Our first recipient of the new BC FNAR award grant of 2021 is Dr. Charu Chandrasekera of the Canadian Centre for Animal Alternatives for her 3D-bioprinted human “lung in a dish” research.
Read more about our first award recipient here
The B.C. Foundation for Non-Animal Research has helped purchase the following sensitive instruments in order to aid non-animal cancer research:
- bacterial colony counter
- photomicroscope
- thermal energy analyzer
- spectrofluorometer
- nitrosamine analyzer
- preparative liquid chromatograph.
We have provided a yearly bursary of $10,000 (the Evelyn Martin Fellowship) for a UBC student working in non-animal techniques, including:
- research on ovarian cancer in human cells
- the prevention of melanoma
- human tissue culture model of malignant cells to study variation among tumors
- studies in tissue culture attempting to arrest cancerous tumor growth.
We have funded various researchers at the BC Cancer Research Centre, including a $12,000 Grant for research relating to carcinogenic and toxic effects of dietary chemicals on human cells. The researchers have acknowledged the support of the foundation in their published papers.
Other funding helps finance researchers at the University of British Columbia, working on:
- computer modelling in heart research
- an alternative to toxicity tests which use animals for identifying the bacterial strains which produce diphtheria toxin
- extending the life of readily available human cells in a culture medium.
Ongoing funding for initiatives in replacement of animals in research.
Beyond the provision of grants to young researchers working with non-animal technologies, and donation of sophisticated equipment for use in non-animal cancer research, we have also helped fund the development of a database for animal alternatives at UBC through the Animal Welfare Program.
Furthermore, we assisted in funding a workshop with speakers John Gluck and Jonathan Balcombe hosted by Society for Humane Science (Formerly AiSPI), which featured international humane education experts coming to Vancouver to form a working group on replacement of animals in science teaching.
BCFNAR is credited in AiSPIs 2015-2016 annual report with the in-kind donation of non-animal alternative models at $5000; in the 2016-2017 report with funding that expert panel on replacements at $10,000.
We also contribute to ongoing funding of a course at University of British Columbia (UBC) called ‘New Approach Methods in Biomedical Science.’
Apply for Funding
The BC Foundation for Non-Animal Research accepts applications for funding between January 1st and April 30th of each year. Successful applicants will be notified in April.
We encourage a diversity of applicants to further the development and discourse of non-animal research. Priority will be given to applications that have a clear goal, which are timely, and which have a profound affect on thought and practice.
The Foundation provides grants to emerging or established scientists for biomedical experiments, development of testing methods and teaching curriculum that do not involve animal use. This may also include capital equipment and software which facilitates the replacement of animal use in teaching or training.
The Foundation is also committed to supporting a diverse range of creative methods that challenge the use of animals in research and promotes alternatives in research, testing and education.
You may apply for funding by filling out the Google Forms document here. (Opens Jan 1st.)
Donate
The BC FNAR is a registered charity.
We are incredibly grateful to our generous donors who support us in providing funding for progress in the field of non-animal research. Without their contributions we would not be able to provide project support to compassionate individuals who have dedicated themselves to the ideal of a world without animal testing.
If you would like to donate to support our mission, you can through our link on CanadaHelps.org
You may also send us a cheque to the address below:
BC Foundation for Non-Animal Research
PO Box 38035
King Edward Mall PO
Vancouver, BC V5Z 4L9
Contact Us
Please email us at contact(at)bcfnar.ca with any questions you may have or to support our work. Thank you.