Lush Cosmetics Recognizes North American R&D Innovations with Awards

From women’s health breakthroughs to exposing hidden animal testing, North American changemakers are being recognized by Lush Cosmetics through its global Lush Prize, the largest prize fund in the non-animal testing sector, with a prize fund of £250,000 to support initiatives to end or replace animal testing.

The Lush Prize – which has awarded more than £3 million (approximately $4,055,000) since 2012 to projects working to replace animal testing with more scientifically advanced alternatives – announces the 2026 North American winners, spotlighting advances in science, advocacy and policy change.
At the biennial ceremony in London on May 12, three North American winners received a combined total of £125,000 (approximately $169,000) to further their efforts spanning scientific innovation, public awareness and regulatory change.

‘Organ-On-Chip’ Technology

At Harvard University, Dr. Zohreh Izadifar has been awarded the £50,000 Science Prize for developing next-generation “organ-on-chip” technology, with the world’s first human cervix and vagina chips. The USB-sized devices use electrical sensors to track real-time responses of human cervical and vaginal cells to hormones, beneficial bacteria and infection, and are already advancing research into vaginal health, pre-term birth and infertility in a field limited by the shortcomings of animal models. The Lush Prize judges were particularly pleased to make an award in the under-represented field of women’s health, which reportedly saw a 31% drop in federally funded projects in 2025, according to an analysis by the Washington Post.

“The Lush Prize is a powerful recognition of our efforts to advance a future of biomedical research that is human-relevant and animal-free,” said Dr. Izadifar. “By replacing animal models with advanced human-based systems, we can fundamentally improve our understanding of disease, accelerate drug discovery, and develop safer, more effective therapies.”

Also in the US, scientists Lindsey Borton and Dr. Kelly Coleman were awarded the £50,000 Political Advocacy Prize for their work in changing an international safety standard, removing the requirement for rabbit testing of medical devices. They examined large industry databases and analyzed over 7,100 rabbit tests run by companies and contract labs over five years. With their findings, Borton and Coleman concluded the rabbit tests added no safety value. By sharing their findings widely and recommending modern lab tests using human cells instead, they helped to change an international safety standard eliminating rabbit tests as a requirement.

In Canada, Animal Justice received the Public Awareness Prize for their campaign exposing an Ontario hospital’s secret dog lab which prompted swift policy change. Working with the Investigative Journalism Bureau, the organization revealed invasive cardiac experiments on animals, leading the hospital to end the tests within days and release surviving dogs for adoption. The investigation also sparked political action, with Ontario introducing legislation to ban invasive medical research on dogs and cats.

The 2026 Lush Prize reflects a broader shift toward AI-driven and human-based testing methods, which can be seen in the research highlighted across the full Lush Prize shortlist at lushprize.org.