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Annual Report 2013 / 2014

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Annual Report 2013 / 2014 BASEL DECLARATION SOCIETY ARATION CL E D Report 2013–2014 L E S A B EDITORIAL Networking in Europe and Beyond 2014 was expected to be a year of consolidation for the Declaration Award for Education in Animal Research Basel Declaration and its Society (BDS), but the events was granted to Dr. Vladimir Popov from the State Uni- in Italy and at the European level have resulted in a versity in Moscow and he is now busy implementing number of very important activities that will keep us better education and the Basel Declaration principles busy for a while. In addition, the preparations for next at his home university. Furthermore, the preparatory year’s Basel Declaration Conference in the USA are on phase for the BDS Society Congress in Washington in schedule. October 2015 is ongoing. It is a very important step for the BDS to cross the Atlantic and will allow us to inter- At the European level the BDS has, with the help of act and network with the relevant US organizations. EFPIA, become active in engaging MEPs in a direct dialogue concerning the importance of animal experi- In summary, what initially looked like a quiet year mentation for life science research and biomedical in- turned out to be rather busy and interesting with novation. A number of BD ambassadors from different significant new activities. As President of the BDS, I am countries are contacting their MEPs to engage them in particularly happy that an increasing number of board an open dialogue concerning animal experimentation. members and ambassadors are dedicating a significant It is important that academia and life science research fraction of their precious time to activities of the Basel are correctly represented in the political discussions Declaration and engaging in an open dialog with dif- concerning animal research both at the national and ferent stakeholders and/or the general public. All the EU level. The “stop vivisection” EU people’s initiative ongoing and future activities would not be possible will be debated in Brussels in the coming month and without the generous support from an increasing num- the BDS aims to be actively involved in this debate. Es- ber of sponsors and institutions. For this, and the en- tablishing the Basel Declaration as a voice for aca- gagement of all of you, we are very grateful. demic life sciences research in Brussels is an ambitious but important aim. Therefore, I wish to thank the in- Thank you all so much and please continue to gener- creasing number of BD ambassadors and board mem- ously support the BDS – every donation goes a long way bers who spend time on these important networking and helps to make the difference!! and lobbying tasks at both national and EU level and encourage you to join in! Another focus has been Italy, where both threats to sci- entists and the restrictive laws have resulted in a num- ber of manifestations and events organized mainly by Prof. Dr. Rolf Zeller Pro-Test Italia. I had the opportunity to attend a mani- President of the Basel Declaration Society festation in Milano and what impressed me most was that most participants were young people, students and postdocs, but also the more senior science establish- ments and some politicians were present. I consider it important that BDS makes an effort to better mobilize the next generation of life science leaders, namely stu- dents and postdoctoral fellows to endorse and promote the Basel Declaration and its principles. Therefore, the BDS is now more present at important life science con- gresses, where we specifically try to engage the young generation and make them aware of the importance of the Basel Declaration and its Society. In addition to these events, the BDS is moving its activ- ities beyond the traditional EU boundaries. The Basel BASEL DECLARATION Society Report 2013–2014 BOARD Chairman Board Members Prof. Dr. Rolf Zeller Prof. Dr. Richard W. Bianco Prof. Dr. Gregor Rainer Department of Biomedicine Director of Experimental Surgery Department of Médicine / University of Basle University of Minnesota Physiology University of Fribourg Basle, Switzerland Minneapolis, USA Fribourg, Switzerland Dr. med. vet. Cornelia Exner Prof. Dr. Hansjörg Scherberger Veterinary surgeon specialized in German Primate Center behavioral science and animal welfare Göttingen, Germany Animal welfare officer for the Philipps University of Marburg c/o FB Biologie, Managing Offi ce Germany Astrid Kugler Dr Giuliano Grignaschi Prof.(em) Dr. H.-P. Schreiber Managing Director IRCCS Istituto di Ricerche Bioethik ETH Zurich, Basel Declaration Society Farmacologiche Mario Negri Zurich, Switzerland Milano, Italy Prof. Dr. Hansjoachim Hackbarth Prof. Dr. Stefan Treue Institut für Tierschutz und Verhalten Director, German Primate Center, Tierärztliche Hochschule Hannover Göttingen, Germany Hannover, Germany Prof. Dr. Patrick Matthias Dr. Aimée Zuniga Friedrich Miescher Institute University of Basle for Biomedical Research Basle, Switzerland Basle, Switzerland Prof. (em) Dr. Ian McGrath FBPharmacolS FSB Editor in Chief, British Journal of Pharmacology University of Glasgow, UK and University of Sydney, Australia 1 BASEL DECLARATION Society Report 2013–2014 ACTIVITIES AT A GLANCE • December 2, 2013 • June 14, 2014 General Assembly of the Basel Declaration Society RicerchiAmo (Research we love) Manifestation organ- Location: Institute of Anatomy, University of Basel ized by Pro-Test Italy Location: Milano, Italy The Basel Declaration board members Prof. Rolf • January 31, 2014 Zeller and Dr. Giuliano Grignaschi participated at Workshop on Communicating Animal Research the RicerchiAmo (Research we love) Manifestation Location: Institut of Molecular Medicine, Lisbon organized by Pro-Test Italy in favor of animal Keynote presentation: Rolf Zeller research on June 14, 2014 in central Milano (Italy) This workshop was organised for animal researchers and caretakers from Lisbon • February 27, 2014 Legislazione dell’Animale da Laboratorio ed “Animal care” Location: Istituto Mario Negri, Milano Course for researchers using animals Participating speaker: Giuliano Grignaschi Rolf Zeller (right) addresses the participants and explains why animal research remains an essential part of basic and applied biomedical research. Dario Padovan (President of Pro-Test Italia; left) helps with • March 11, 2014 translation. EU-People’s Initiative “Stop Vivisection” Webinar organised by EPFIA to discuss this initiative Participation: Astrid Kugler • March 18, 2014 The Basel Declaration Society joins the advisory board of the European Animal Research Association (EARA). BDS is represented by: Giuliano Grignaschi Giuliano Grignaschi speaks to the participants and addresses the • April 16, 2014 problems and threats researchers working with animals face in Italy. MPoll among EU-MEPs in Brussels on their opinion concerning animal experimentation. Unfortunate- ly, only few MEPs reacted so that no valid results • July 5, 2014 were obtained. This may have to do with the hectic FENS Forum Neurosience pre-election overlap or the fact that Basal or the fact Location: Milan, Italy that the Basel Declaration is not known in Brussels. Speaker: Stefan Treue on “The Basel Declaration It was decided to make an effort to change this by Society and the need for transparency” trying to increase the visibility in Brussels with Basel Declaration’s support of EFPIA. • June 6–7, 2014 International Meeting of MD PhD students Location: Brunnen, Switzerland Participation: The BDS has a booth to inform the participants. Astrid Kugler presents the Basel Declaration to the plenum of the congress. 2 BASEL DECLARATION Society Report 2013–2014 • August 25–29, 2014 • September 22, 2014 Vladimir Popov (State University Moscow, Russia) “Swiss League against Vivisection” protests against is awarded the 3rd Basel Declaration Award 2014 for NHP research. Education in Animal Research. Location: ETH and Univeristy of Zurich, Switzerland He is invited to participate at the Introductory Rolf Zeller joins “Research for Life” to distribute Course in Laboratory Animal Science (FELASA catego- leafl ets and engage students and general ry B accredited) in Zurich and will establish similar public in discussions about the importance of courses at his home University (see interview). NHP research. Vladimir Popov and Astrid Kugler Demo on the campus of the University of Zurich-Irchel • August 30 – September 2, 2014 • September 22–23, 2014 FEBS/EMBO Anniversary Congress (biggest European Hellenic Society for Biomedical and Laboratory congress for basic life science research) Animal Science (HSBLAS) Location: Paris, France Location: Athens, Greece Participation: The BDS has a booth to inform the The fi rst BD Award Winner Eirini Fragkiadaki participants. presents the Basel Declaration, its principles and Rolf Zeller presents the Basel Declaration principles the Society in a lecture. to the participants of a quiz on animal research, the 3Rs and the Basel Declaration. Department of Animal Models for Biomedical Research Topic: Other, Reference number: P-26 This is part of the efforts of the BDS to make the Basel Declaration known among graduate students Three years of action for Basel Declaration Society Eirini G. Fragkiadaki*, Sylva Haralambous and postdoctoral fellows and encourage them to Ambassadors of Basel Declaration Society, Department of Animal Models for Biomedical Research, Hellenic Pasteur Institute, Vas. Sofias 127, 11521, Athens, Greece, *E-mail: [email protected] sign and join the BDS. INTRODUCTION The Basel Declaration Society (BDS) was
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