Mikalah Singer, JD, LLM

Mikalah Singer, JD, LLM, is a science policy specialist with the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine. She works to advance human-centered research at the National Institutes of Health and to encourage the broader use of nonanimal methods in biomedical research. In collaboration with other members of the research and regulatory affairs team, she engages with NIH leadership and staff, researchers, lawmakers, and the public to promote policy changes that will support funding opportunitiesfor, and recommend, nonanimal research strategies.

To encourage the broader use of human-specific methods, Ms. Singer coordinates the Physicians Committee’s Early-Career Researchers Advancing 21st Century Science (ERA21) program. The ERA21 program provides education, training, career development, and travel awards to students and emerging scientists and connects them with funding and advocacy opportunities and leaders in the field of human-centered research. Ms. Singer is also part of the collaborative international effort to characterize and address the bias toward animal-based methods within medical research: the Coalition to Illuminate and Address Animal Methods Bias (COLAAB).

Prior to joining the Physicians Committee, Ms. Singer completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and was part of the Toxicology Policy Program. While at Johns Hopkins, sheworked with a team of lawyers and scientists to support in vitromodels in research and safety testing through lobbying, education, and research. Her primary focus was on policy changes that the NIH can make in its grant-making process to be more inclusive of the use and development of nonanimal models in biomedical research.

Ms. Singer earned a Juris Doctor, certificate in animal law, and Master of Laws in environmental, natural resources, and energy law from Lewis & Clark Law School. She earned her Bachelor of Arts in cognitive science and psychology with honors from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, Ohio, where she worked on collaborative research between the medical and law schools related to ethics and dehumanization. In 2024, Ms. Singer received the Rising Star Award from the Lewis & Clark Law School Alumni Board for her dedication to animal protection.

Ms. Singer is a fellow of the Oxford Centre for Animal Ethics and member of the Oregon Bar Association.

Read some of Ms. Singer’s publications:

Singer M, Akhtar A. With what should we replace nonhuman animals in biomedical research protocols? AMA  J Ethics. 2024;26(9):E701-708. doi:10.1001/amajethics.2024.701

Singer M, Locke PA. Better science, fewer animals: catalyzing NIH grant making to improve biomedical research and meet societal goals. Animal Law Review. 2023;29(1):65-101. https://law.lclark.edu/live/files/35184-291-005

Locke PA, Singer M, Hartung T. The Humane Research and Testing Act: advancing science by creating a new Center for Alternatives at the US National Institutes of Health. ALTEX. 2021;38(4):678-680. doi:10.14573/altex.2106031