Animal Welfare Body – ORBEA-FMUP The Órgão Responsável pelo Bem-Estar dos Animais, i.e., the Animal Welfare Body, in the General Animal Facility of the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto (ORBEA-FMUP) is an independent advisory entity created to protect animals used for scientific and/or educational purposes at FMUP, promoting their welfare in accordance with the legislation in force, namely under the terms of Decree-Law 113/2013, issued on August 7, as amended by Decree-Law 1/2019, issued on January 10, and Order 2880/2015, issued on March 20.

ORBEA is responsible for:

• Offering advice on animal welfare concerning animal acquisition, housing, care and utilization.
• Offering advice on applying the replacement, reduction and refinement (3R) requirement, and providing information about technical and scientific developments related to this requirement.
• Establishing and reviewing internal operational processes for monitoring, reporting and following up on the welfare of animals housed or utilized in the institution.
• Monitoring the progress and results of projects, considering the effects on the animals, as well as identifying and offering advice on elements that contribute to applying replacement, reduction and refinement.
• Offering advice on rehoming programs, including the proper socialization of the animals to be rehomed.
• Establishing operating rules for animal experimentation at FMUP and recommending protocols in accordance with the current legislation.
• Issuing non-binding reviews on projects or any research or teaching procedures involving the use of animals at FMUP.
• Promoting, on an annual basis, Laboratory Animal Science Courses (Modular Structure) in conjunction with the FMUP Animal Facility. These courses are designed based on the education and training requirements of Directive 2010/63/EU issued on September 22: Functions A, B, C, D and Additional Modules 20,21,22 (Framework for education and training)

Members of ORBEA

Francisco José Miranda Rodrigues da Cruz
FMUP Subdiretor

Patricia do Céu Oliveira Ribeiro
President of ORBEA, Animal Facility & Welfare Manager, and Designated Veterinarian

Armando Cardoso
Scientific Manager

Dora Raquel da Silva Pinho
Scientific Manager

Elisa Oliveira Braga Keating
Scientific Manager

Maria Isabel Torres Martins
Scientific Manager

Sandra Marisa Jesus Oliveira
Scientific Manager

Ana Cristina Ferreira Barbosa Soares
Animal Welfare Manager

Maria Elsa Sousa Costa Silva Morais
Civil Society Representative

Nuno Henrique Franco
External Member linked to Laboratory Animal Sciences

ORBEA Regulations

Regulation 408/2021 | DRE

Issuing Reviews

Any request for an ethical review of a research project must be submitted by the person responsible for the project by email to the following address: orbeafmup@med.up.pt

The request must include the following duly completed documentation to be validated:

1. Project Approval Application Form
2. Non-technical Project Summary Template
3. A copy of the Directorate-General for Food and Veterinary (DGAV in Portuguese) accreditation as a 'competent person to carry out procedures on animals' for all the individuals in the project that will perform such procedures.

Position Statement on Animal Research

The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto is committed to proving open and transparent information about the research involving animals and the standards of animal care and welfare carried out in this institution. The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto signed the Transparency Agreement on Animal Research in Portugal, an initiative supported by the Portuguese scientific community in collaboration with the European Animal Research Association (EARA) to promote a more consistent approach to communicating the scientific, ethical, and moral justifications for animal research in Portugal.

The scientific work developed in the Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto only uses animal models when there is no validated alternative method.

The Faculty of Medicine of the University of Porto respects the Portuguese (Decree-Law n2.113/2013 of the 7th of August) and European laws (Directive 2010/63/UE) that rule the use of animals in research and follow the principles of the 3Rs – replacement, refinement, and reduction to use methods which avoid or replace the use of animals; to look for methods which minimize any suffering and improve animal welfare and use methods which minimize the number of animals used per experiments.