Research Team 7
Title: «Research Unit for animal standards "Evangelismos" Hospital»
Supervisor: Heleni Loutrari
Collaborators
Zoi Kollia
Vasileios Dafis
The Research Unit of Animal Models of Evangelismos Hospital has been operating since 2001 and can accommodate 400 mice, 60 rats and 24 rabbits. The Thorax Foundation financed the construction, equipment and operating costs of the Unit for several years. Recently, the available infrastructures have been significantly strengthened through a donation from the Stavros Niarchos Foundation. The operation of the Unit is fully harmonized with the national (PD 56/2013) and European legislation (2010/63/EU) for the use of laboratory animals for scientific purposes and covers all modern requirements for excellence in research.
Regulatory Framework
The facilities of the Unit have a legal license for breeding (EL 25 BIObr 40), supply (EL 25 BIOsup 41) and use (EL 25 BIOexp 15) of laboratory animals from the Directorate of Agricultural and Veterinary Policy of the Attica Region which has also approved the composition of the two Committees that are responsible for the monitoring of animals and the evaluation of research protocols. More specifically:
a. The Monitoring and Opinion Committee for Animal Welfare consists of the following members: Heleni Loutrari (molecular biologist PhD, member of the Laboratory Teaching Staff of NKUA, legal responsible for the management of facilities’ operations, infrastructures and personnel), Vasileios Dafis (designated veterinarian DVM, MSc, PhD), Ioannis Kalomenidis (medical doctor, Associate Professor of NKUA) and Zoi Kollia (animal breeder).
b. The Protocols Evaluation Committee consists of the following regular members: Heleni Loutrari, Vasileios Dafis, Spyreta Golemati (Assistant Professor of NKUA, responsible for the assessment of biostatistical analyses) and Panagiotis Andriopoulos (veterinarian, representative of the Directorate of Agricultural and Veterinary Policy of the Attica Region)
Work
A wide range of research and training protocols in laboratory animals take place in the facilities of the Unit after relevant licensing by the Directorate of Agricultural and Veterinary Policy of the Attica Region. Indicatively, models of human pathologies in animals (wild-type and transgenic) are developed, compounds of pharmaceutical interest are tested in bioactivity/toxicity/pharmacokinetics studies and state-of-the-art technologies are applied for animal monitoring and sample analysis during experimentation.
Collaborations
National Committee for the Welfare of Animals Used for Scientific Purposes (EEZES)
Animal Facilities Laboratory of the Research Center of Biomedical Sciences "Alexandros Fleming"
Department of Animal Models for Biomedical Research of the Hellenic Pasteur Institute
Animal Model Unit of the Biomedical Research Foundation of the Academy of Athens
