# The HEARTS Act: Shifting How Medical Research Gets Funded

This bill would change how the National Institutes of Health (NIH)—the government agency that funds most medical research in America—decides which studies to support. Right now, researchers can propose animal testing as part of their studies, and there's not much pressure to consider alternatives. The HEARTS Act would flip that around by requiring the NIH to actively encourage and prioritize non-animal research methods whenever they're scientifically valid.

The bill is based on a real problem: a lot of animal research doesn't actually help humans. According to the NIH's own data cited in the bill, about 30 percent of promising drugs that worked in animal tests fail when tested on humans because they turn out to be toxic, and another 60 percent fail because they don't actually work. Meanwhile, between 17 and 22 million animals are used in U.S. research annually, often experiencing pain and suffering. The bill argues that modern alternatives—like computer models, lab-grown human tissue, and other non-animal methods—are often cheaper, faster, and more accurate at predicting how drugs will work in people.

To make this change happen, the bill would require the NIH to create financial incentives rewarding researchers who use non-animal methods, make sure every animal research proposal gets reviewed by someone with expertise in alternatives, and ensure researchers thoroughly search for non-animal options before proposing to use animals. Researchers would also need to confirm in writing that no suitable non-animal method exists before their animal studies can be approved. For taxpayers and patients, this could mean research dollars are spent more efficiently on methods that better predict human outcomes. For researchers, it means more hoops to jump through but potentially access to new funding opportunities if they embrace alternative methods.

HEARTS Act of 2021

Roybal-Allard, Lucille

Humane and Existing Alternatives in Research and Testing Sciences Act of 2021 or the HEARTS Act of 2021 This bill expands the responsibilities of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to promote research methods that do not use animals. Specifically, the NIH must (1) provide incentives for nonanimal research, and (2) require the evaluation of viable nonanimal alternatives before approving any research that involves animals. Additionally, NIH applications for research grants involving animals must include an assurance that nonanimal methods for such research are not available.