Sophie Regnault chose to transpose research conducted by Professor Gareth Jenkins (pictured) from Swansea University’s College of Medicine in the Access to Understanding 2015 competition, which challenges early career researchers to summarise selected scientific research articles in plain English, explaining why the research was done, what was done and why it is important.

Professor Jenkins’ collaborative study on the subject of reducing animal testing: Automation and validation of micronucleus detection in the 3D EpiDerm™ human reconstructed skin assay and correlation with 2D dose responses was one of 12 research articles selected for the competition to be summarised by competition entrants.

Sophie summarised the research in her entry entitled: “Saving their skin: Research to reduce animal testing”.

Of the summary, Professor Jenkins said: “I am really pleased that a young scientist chose one of our papers for the writing challenge. I read Sophie’s summary of our paper and it was excellent, she was a deserved winner.

“Writing about science in a clear and understandable way is crucial for scientists, Sophie shows an exceptional talent for this.”

Sophie said: “I was extremely flattered to be shortlisted. Not only is science communication important in engaging with the public (who often fund research), but also with other scientists across disciplines. I chose to try and interpret Prof Jenkins’ article as it is very much outside of my field, as a challenge to myself, but was pleasantly surprised with how well-written and accessible the content was. Such clarity is invaluable for collaboration and consolidation of our knowledge as scientists and society generally.”

The research articles for the Access to Understanding competition were selected by Europe PMC, a free-to-access online resource for biomedical research information.

Sophie Regnault’s article describes the research published in: Automation and validation of micronucleus detection in the 3D EpiDerm™ human reconstructed skin assay and correlation with 2D dose responses E. Chapman, A. D. Thomas, J. W. Wills, S. Pfuhler, S. H. Doak, G. J. Jenkins Mutagenesis (2014) 29(3) 165-175. 

See here for Sophie's summary and original published article.