Prof. Urs Meyer

Project Leader and Team Leader Pharmacology

"Our lab prefers administering drugs or vehicle solutions via MDA rather than via conventional techniques because it is less stressful for both the animals and researchers, while still maintaining the highest scientific standards in behavioral pharmacology."

Dr. Paulin Jirkof

Team Leader Dissemination

"MDA is a gentle alternative to oral gavage, enabling voluntary ingestion of test substances by the animals. It’s injury- and stress-free for the mice and significantly easier for researchers. I’m always happy to support fellow researchers in adopting this refined method and am committed to helping make it more widely known in the scientific community."

Prof. Pål Johansen

Team Leader Oncology

"MDA makes oral drug delivery stress-free—for both the mice and me. No risk, no struggle, just precision and peace of mind."

Frida Nilsson

PhD Student Team Oncology

"MDA offers a precise and less stressful drug delivery method, making it the ideal choice for daily drug treatment in long-term cancer xenograft studies, ensuring both accuracy and animal well-being."

Olga Krzyzaniak

PhD Student Team Pharmacology

"In behavioral research, minimizing stress is absolutely essential and MDA makes that possible. It allows for precise oral drug delivery without disrupting the animals’ baseline behavior, which is critical for obtaining reliable, reproducible results."

Sarah Steiner

PhD Student Team Pharmacology

"As a veterinarian, the welfare of animals is of highest priority to me. With the MDA method, researchers can increase the welfare of the animals on a day to day basis."

Macsmeila Dietrich

Research Associate Team Oncology

"MDA gives me peace of mind, as I feel it causes less stress to the mice."

Laura Kämpfen

Communication Assistant

"For me, MDA is more than a method — it’s a message. Communicating about refinement strategies like MDA is a way to drive essential change in perspective: to recognize animal welfare not only as an ethical responsibility, but also as a vital factor for best practice in science."

Corina Berset

Animal Welfare Consultant

"When planning oral administration in laboratory rodents, I warmly recommend to consider MDA: a refined, voluntary method doubled by a positive interaction with the animals."

About the Method

Illustrations Sivic UZH

What is Rodent MDA?
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MDA is a technique that utilizes a palatable solution— e.g. sweetened condensed milk—to safely administer drugs to laboratory rodents. Animals are trained to ingest the solution in a controlled manner, ensuring a stress-free process. Once trained, MDA opens the door to repeated administrations without the need for restraint or invasive techniques. This not only enhances the research process but also minimizes stress and injuries among the animals.

Key Benefits of Rodent MDA:

Safety First: MDA eliminates the need for stressful procedures, reducing the risk of injuries and ensuring the well-being of laboratory rodents.
‍Precision: Controlled ingestion through micropipettes allows for accurate drug administration, leading to more reliable research outcomes.
‍Repeatability: With MDA, researchers can conduct repeated administrations without causing further discomfort to the rodents, promoting longitudinal studies and comprehensive data collection.

Advancing Rodent Research with MDA: The integration of MDA represents a significant leap forward inrefining laboratory practices. By prioritizing the welfare of our researchsubjects, we can enhance the quality and ethical standards of preclinicalstudies..

Funded by the NRP79 - "Advancing 3R - Research, Animals and Society", we are diving into the development of Rodent MDA to address open questions and concerns about its validity and applicability in various research fields. Our mission is clear - to implement and disseminate MDA as a new standard in oral drug administration, replacing the conventional oral gavage method.
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‍How We Plan to Achieve This:
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‍1️⃣ Generating Scientific Data: We're committed to producing data across three of Switzerland's top five research fields in terms of animal usage. From Analgesia to Metabolism/Behaviour and Pharmacology in Oncology, we're comparing MDA against oral gavage and injections to ensure its effectiveness.
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2️⃣ Promoting Awareness: We're launching initiatives to spread the word about MDA. Through social media, a dedicated website, and stakeholder meetings, we aim to inform colleagues, policy makers, authorities, and the public about MDA as a superior 3R alternative to oral gavage.
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3️⃣ Education: We're working towards incorporating the MDA technique into educational programs for laboratory animal science. Our goal is to make MDA a recognized and valid #3Rs method, ensuring future researchers are equipped with innovative and ethical approaches.

About the Project

Image MELS UZH

About the Team

Pharmacology

Oncology

Dissemination