Research summary
Every week around 3500 new pieces of research involving animals are published. It is almost impossible for anyone to stay up to date with current knowledge. We have also shown that much of that work is at substantial risk of bias - and the effects observed in animals may be substantially overstated as a consequence.

In our research we are developing tools to provide unbiased summaries of what is already known, including tools to assess whether effects in animals may be overstated. We then use this information to help guide better design of clinical trials testing treatments in humans.

Examples of trials we have helped design using this approach include EuroHYP-1 - a trial of brain cooling in stroke - and MS-SMART, a trial in secondary progressive multiple sclerosis.