The Italian Interuniversity Center promotes alternative methods to animal experimentation
June 18, 2020 - TheUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma joins the 3R Center, founded in 2017 to promote the principles of Reduction, Refinement and Replacement of animal experiments. A university network to guide the implementation and integration of these three principles into science curricula and basic and applied research.
ll "principle of the 3Rs" is by Russell and Burch and is based on the principles of Reduction (reduction to the bare minimum of the number of animals used), refinement (continuous improvement of methods used to reduce animal suffering) e Replacement (replacement of animal testing with alternative methods whenever possible). In Italy, Directive 2010/63/EU on the protection of animals used for research purposes was transposed by Legislative Decree. March 4, 2014, no. 26.
"We enthusiastically welcomed the commitment of the 3R Center during these first two years of life - Ofchiara Alberto Rainer, Associate Professor of Industrial Bioengineering at theUniversità Campus Bio-Medico di Roma - and for this reason we have decided to join as a University. Participation in this national network will allow us to systematize our educational paths with a series of initiatives aimed at raising the awareness of young scientists on the theme of the 3Rs and will be an impetus for all of us teachers, researchers and students to feed this collective project through sharing scientific experience and knowledge".
Currently, seven Italian universities are part of the inter-university network (University of Pisa, University of Genoa, University of Pavia, Polytechnic of Turin, Polytechnic of Milan, University of Milan-Bicocca and, precisely, the new-entry Università Campus Bio-medico di Roma), over 250 members and a wide range of expertise such as biology, pharmacology, medicine, engineering, philosophy and law, which characterize the high multidisciplinarity of the 3R Center.
The main objectives of the Center are also: promote and institute courses on principles within science degree curricula; stimulate scientific and cultural debate, offering adequate information support; develop and coordinate studies and research in collaboration with other universities, research centres, public and private bodies both nationally and internationally; organize courses, seminars, study conferences and scientific dissemination initiatives in various disciplinary fields and in compliance with current legislation.
