Grace Liu

Senior Grace Liu and senior Saachi Jain selling animal stickers and keychains at the Saratoga Blossom Festival as a fundraiser for iCLEAR.

On April 29, during the Saratoga Blossom Festival in the Heritage Orchard and Saratoga Civic Center, crowds flocked around a stand to buy animal stickers and keychains. Although it just seemed like a simple purchase to add to their collection, they were actually supporting an organization for a much larger cause — animal rights and ethics in research. 

Many students across the Bay Area share a passion for biology research, including senior Grace Liu. With her experience working on research projects involving animal models, Liu became increasingly aware of the many ethical issues involved in animal testing.

While many organizations such as People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals (PETA) and The Humane Society of the United States (HSUS) have advocated for improving the treatment of animals in farming and entertainment, the issues of ethics in laboratory testing have not been adequately addressed. 

Recognizing this gap, Liu, along with two of her friends, senior Sophia Liu from the Harker School and senior Duke Zhang from Kent School in Connecticut, founded the nonprofit organization called International Coalition for Laboratory Ethical Animal Research (iCLEAR) in March of this year, making it a relatively young organization. 

“The other co-founders and I are all researchers at heart, so we wanted to promote and educate on this issue from a more scientific lens,” Liu said. 

Their primary mission is to advocate for a more ethical approach to animal research through the principle of the 3 R’s: replacement, which involves replacing animal testing and models with laboratory equivalents; reduction, using as few animals as possible; and refinement, minimizing the harm, pain and suffering experienced by the animals. 

Liu hopes that the organization can promote scientific discoveries that replace animal models, as well as advocate for methods that can make the research process as painless and ethical as possible.

One of iCLEAR’s main methods of spreading awareness is through publishing articles about these topics. A majority of the members that joined iCLEAR as article writers are from around the Bay Area and the East Coast, including senior Saachi Jain. 

“The articles help us accomplish our goal of informing people about different facets of animal ethics that they may not have been aware of before,” Jain said. “When people are more informed, they can support our specific organization and have more knowledge to carry with them as they potentially advocate for animal ethics in other ways.”

Article topics range from comparing animal testing policies in different countries to exploring alternatives to animal testing such as organ-on-a-chip technology.

“An important thing I thought about when starting iCLEAR was that I didn’t want it to be restricted to any single high school,” Liu said. “The co-founders and I want to grow iCLEAR as much as we can, and we want to spread our mission in the US but also overseas.”

iCLEAR promotes its  efforts through its Instagram account, which is managed by sophomore Sophia Hu from Notre Dame High School and Saratoga junior Nicole Hao. 

 In the seven months that iCLEAR has existed, they have reached out to audiences beyond the Bay Area, including the East Coast and even overseas in China. 

“Having a diverse set of members has introduced more opportunities for iCLEAR, including our international internship and fundraisers we’ve hosted at a TedX event and a festival,” Liu said.

The fundraisers that were held not only increased interest in their organization from the public, but also allowed iCLEAR to host a multitude of events, notably a summer internship in Shanghai where members gained valuable research experience and learned about how ethical animal research is conducted.

The organization also hosted an animal themed art contest over the summer, and plans to promote public sympathy for animals by displaying the art in a local exhibition. 

Currently, iCLEAR is working on establishing a collaboration project with local animal shelters to promote animal welfare locally, and are also coordinating with university professors to start a speaker series on animal ethics. Their first speaker, Laurie Sellars, is a postgraduate fellow at the Yale University Law School, focusing on animal ethics inside and beyond the laboratory. Her talk is scheduled for Nov. 11 at 3 p.m. PST and more information to sign up can be found on the organization website. 

The organization is also open to applications on their website from students for positions in areas such as outreach and social media. 

“iCLEAR has been able to accomplish so much within just the past year through the collaborative efforts of all our passionate members,” Liu said. “I’m incredibly proud of everything we’ve done to fight for such a critical cause, and I’m excited to continue developing our mission and working towards more ambitious goals after graduation.”