Rise for Animals examines the National Institutes of Health’s September 21, 2026 announcement of five new initiatives, described by NIH as its biggest push yet to move biomedical research beyond animal model use, including more than $88 million in infrastructure funding and a new Clinical Center laboratory built around human organoid models, robotics, and AI. The analysis welcomes the investments but cautions that NIH still identifies animal models as an important tool for biomedical discovery, that celebrated NAM technologies such as organoids can themselves perpetuate animal research, and that without a comprehensive count of animals used, there is no way to know whether NIH funding reduces animal use or shifts it into new forms. The organization urges support for the Federal Animal Research Accountability (FARA) Act, which would mandate annual species-level reporting by NIH-funded institutions.
Key Highlights #
- NIH announced five initiatives: more than $88 million for biomedical infrastructure projects; a $7 million-plus challenge to improve detection and measurement in lab-based new approach methodologies (NAMs); a new NIH Clinical Center laboratory built around standardized human organoid models, robotics, and AI; an initiative to recruit grant reviewers with expertise in human-based science; and a request for information (RFI) on whether NIH should publish an annual count of vertebrate animals used in the research it funds.
- NIH’s announcement still identifies animal models as an important tool for human biomedical discovery and conditions reductions in animal use on feasibility, mirroring the FDA’s framing of NAMs as complements to, rather than replacements for, animal studies.
- A Nature study published the week before the announcement illustrates how NAM technologies can drive animal exploitation: Stanford researchers engineered mice to develop without most of their cerebral cortex and hippocampus, implanted human brain organoids into their skulls, and subjected them to foot-shock fear conditioning and hypoxia experiments.
- There is currently no comprehensive public count of animals bred, used, and killed in U.S. laboratories; NIH requires only an average daily inventory roughly every four years, does not verify the counting method, and does not compile the data it receives.
- A similar Virginia state reporting bill in 2024 was stalled by university and industry opposition, with a task force failing to reach consensus on requiring animal counts.
- The Federal Animal Research Accountability (FARA) Act would require NIH-funded institutions to report annually the number of animals they breed, house, and use, by species and pain category; it has not moved since being referred to committee in May 2025.
Statements #
The FDA is changing the regulatory language that implied animal tests were the expected default, and NIH is investing in new tools that could take their place.
- Rise for Animals
Organoids are among the most celebrated NAM technologies - yet, here, they became the foundation for a new animal model. This study shows how easily NAM technologies can be used to perpetuate, if not increase, animal research, rather than reduce or replace it.
- Rise for Animals
NIH’s investments in human-relevant science are critical, and we welcome them. But progress toward the goal of reducing animal use cannot be measured if no one knows how many animals are in NIH-funded labs to begin with. If NIH wants credit for moving research beyond animals, it has to be willing to show us the numbers. And, if it won’t, Congress must make it.
- Rise for Animals
About the Organizations #
Rise for Animals is a nonprofit organization working to end the use of animals in laboratories through advocacy, policy engagement, and public education.
NIH Director Jay Bhattacharya leads the National Institutes of Health, the U.S. federal agency that is the world’s largest funder of biomedical research, including animal research.
Learn More #
Article: NIH Is Investing in NAMs, But Will Animals Be Spared?
HHS Press Release: HHS Accelerates Shift to Human-Based Research, Reduces Reliance on Animal Testing