Program areas at PCRM
Research and Regulatory Affairs We promote human-specific, nonanimal approaches for use in research, testing, and education, through scientific support, policy change, and education and outreach. In FY 2023, our scientists continued our work to overcome barriers to uptake of nonanimal approaches. We provided input to relevant agencies through responses to requests for information, and notices in the Federal Register. To overcome bias toward animal use in research, our scientists established an international collaboration to provide evidence of the bias and implement strategies to overcome it. Our toxicologists actively promote the development and implementation of nonanimal-based tests for product testing, including through training established and early-career scientists. In FY 2023, we published a manuscript on reducing animal use in carcinogenicity studies. We presented to two federal agency advisory committees on the evaluation and integration of nonanimal approaches. We held 29 individual training sessions that included more than 6,000 scientists and professionals attending live, then offered the recordings for free in order to reach many more. To improve physician training, we work to replace animals in residency training programs. As a result of our work, only seven of 292 surveyed emergency medicine residencies in the US and Canada continue to use animals. In FY 2023, we launched new campaigns by filing federal complaints to challenge the use of live animals for medical training at three schools. We held four physician-led demonstrations and also posted advertisements targeting seven institutions. We ended animal use for medical or veterinary training at two schoolsthe University of California-Davis and Colorado State University.
Nutrition Education Nutrition experts grew a variety of educational programs to promote plant-based diets for health. To educate clinicians, the Nutrition Guide for Clinicians, a diagnostic and treatment mobile application, reached 5,849 new users, with nearly 61,000 total users to date. NutritionCME.org brought in 1,768 health care professionals through novel and practical educational content, and we provided lectures at 33 medical, nursing, and dental schools, reaching 2,300 students. The clinician referral network brought in 47 new providers, for a total of 449 worldwide. The Lets Beat Breast Cancer campaign launched, reaching thousands of new people through our online campaign along with weekly online education to spread the word about using four lifestyle steps to reduce breast cancer risk. The bilingual 21-Day Vegan Kickstart mobile application reached 22,800 people with menus, recipes, education, and cooking videos to support individuals transitioning to a plant-based diet. Online educational offerings allowed us to reach tens of thousands of people: The Fight Diabetes With Food program reached more than 7,000 live participants. One Healthy World, our new multilingual online program, reached more than 320,000 people across the world in English, French, and Spanish languages. In India we held 25 in-person and virtual lunch-and-learn events reaching 2,475 people. In China, we reached more than 11,200 people through a total of 106 lectures across 40 cities. The Food for Life nutrition and cooking program, via our global network of nearly 350 instructors and institutions, reached 16,500 students through nearly 1,800 individual classes.
CommunicationsWorking with physicians, health experts, and celebrities who serve as spokespeople, we inform, persuade, and inspire readers through strategic media relations, social media, digital communications, print publications, and advertisements. Our work was featured in traditional news outlets, including The Washington Post, The Los Angeles Times, Associated Press, CNN, CNBC, Fox News, Reuters, New York Post, Popular Science, The Guardian, and many more. Our doctor-authored op-eds have been published in major newspapers including the Omaha World-Herald and The Tennessean. Over an average 30-day period in 2023, we placed 816 articles with a total engagement of 33,580 (number of times a link was shared, commented on, or liked on social media networks). Our social media content created conversations daily among more than 1.8 million followers on 16 social media accounts. In FY 2023, 29 million accounts were reached across Meta platforms. YouTube's following grew to 430k, up 97.5k followers from the previous year, making it the highest-growing account, and we reached 14.9 million people. The Exam Room podcast was downloaded more than 5.4 million times in FY 2023 and 15 million from its 2018 launch through FY 2023. Our website received 5,597,685 total page views in FY 2023. We completed more than 800 separately tracked print and display materials, promotional merchandise, and electronic graphics and e-publications. Good Medicine, the Physicians Committees 24-page magazine, keeps members informed and involved. Four issues of Good Medicine were published in FY 2023. Total print distribution was 339,794.