Pandora Pound

Dr Pandora Pound has a PhD in the Sociology of Medicine and over two decades experience of conducting research. For many years she worked in medical schools and was always aware that somewhere in the depths of the buildings were laboratories that housed animals for use in medical experiments. Intrigued that the practice was shrouded in secrecy, she decided to find out more about the science. Her investigations resulted in Rat Trap. Here she slays the many myths about animal research, revealing the shockingly poor quality and futility of most animal studies and arguing that medical progress and human health are thwarted by this harmful practice. The issue of animal research affects all of us, explains Dr Pound. Our health and safety is at stake. This is not just about animals, the effect on patients has been overlooked for far too long. Rat Trap examines how awe-inspiring technologies could revolutionise medicine if only it were able to escape the stranglehold of animal research. In offering a glimpse of a future in which we embrace human-relevant science, Rat Trap is a passionately told story of hope. Yet, she argues, resistance from some elements of the scientific community poses a grave threat to progress. Dr Pound is Research Director at Safer Medicines Trust, a UK based patient safety charity, and is a Fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics.