Faculty

The faculty of training courses is composed of a body of professionals including facility managers, laboratory animal science specialists, veterinarians, engineers and architects experienced in laboratory animal facility requirements, quality control engineers and lay-outing and operations experts. Our teachers offer broad and specialist training syllabus designed specifically for all those involved in the laboratory animal field.

BALDIN FEDERICA

Federica was born in Pavia, in 1983. She graduated in Biotechnology at University of Pavia in 2005 (BSC). She obtained a MSC at University of Milan in Plant Biotechnology in 2007 and gained her PhD in Plant Molecular Biology and Production in 2010. Since 2010 she has worked in a large research centre in Milan, Italy, contributing to manage two mouse facilities as well as being involved in personnel training. In 2011, she was also involved in a LEAN transformation, which took place in one of the two mouse facilities.

FOA MASSIMO

Dr Massimo Foa currently covers the position of medical and scientific manager for IDEXX BioAnalytics for the EMEA region. Massimo has more than 10 years of experience in bioresearch in the specific area of health monitoring with rodents and other species. He graduated at the University of Milan in 1994, after some years in private practice, he moved to the bioresearch field. There he developed a strong interest in the challenges of health monitoring, especially with regards of the use of microisolation system as IVCs. Massimo moved in 2013 to Idexx BioAnalytics when Idexx started its activity in Europe. He presented at several national and international meetings (e.g. FELASA, ESLAV, LASA, Gv Solas, PolLasa, SCANLAS, AISAL, LAVA etc).

FROST JOSH

Josh Frost graduated in Biology and Environmental Science from Adrian College in 2010. He is the National Gnotobiotic Rodent Resource Center (NGRRC) Manager at the University of North Carolina (UNC) – Chapel Hill. He started his career working at the University of Michigan as a husbandry technician where he discovered his passion for germ-free/gnotobiotic work as a member of Kate Eaton’s germ-free core. After a couple of years he transitioned to a vivarium supervisor at the University of Michigan, where he closely worked with several groups including ECMO lab, Rogel Cancer Center, and Transgenic Animal Model Core. In 2018, he was hired as the NGRRC manager where is responsible for a 110 Trexler flexible film isolators, 2 semi-rigid isolators, and 3 Tecniplast Positive Pressure IVC Systems. He specializes in the production and maintenance of germ-free and gnotobiotic mice. NGRRC provides several services including germ-free mice, germ-free mouse rederivation, 4 day in-person training, and study completion by highly trained and skilled germ-free husbandry technicians. He is an Association for Gnotobiotics executive council member and an active participant in the Gnotobiotic Listserv to provide advice to those new to gnotobiotic work.

GOBBI ALBERTO

Alberto graduated in Veterinary Medicine (Summa cum Laude) in 1992 and specialized in Laboratory Animal Science and Medicine (Summa cum Laude) in 2002 at the University of Milan, Italy. In 2010, he received the TurnKey Facility Leader of the Year Award. Since 1999 he has worked for a large research centre in Milan, Italy, where he manages the two mouse facilities. Alberto is author or co-author of 32 papers published on international peer-reviewed journals, mainly focused on mouse models of human tumors and infectious diseases and on the characterisation of spontaneous diseases of laboratory mice. He regularly presents talks to scientific meetings and contributes to courses on laboratory animal science.

HAACKE INA

Ina was born in Hamburg, Germany in 1971 and obtained a university diploma in applied science in nutrition and home economics in 1998.
From 1998 to 2003 she worked in the Neodisher detergent applications department at the chemical company Dr. Weigert GnbH & Co. KG in Hamburg. After a short period (2003-2005) spent in a health and rehabilitation centre as nutritionist, in 2006 she returned to Dr. Weigert GnbH working once again in the Neodisher detergent applications department.

KORNERUP HANSEN AXEL

Axel Korner Hansen graduated in 1985 as DVM from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Copenhagen, Denmark. After two years in a small animal hospital, he became head of laboratories at Møllegaard Breeding Center, today part of Taconic Ltd. In 1993 he became associate director at the Department of Experimental Medicine at the Faculty of Health Sciences at the University of Copenhagen. In 1996 he was awarded the degree of Dr. Vet. Sci. based upon his thesis on the impact of bacteria in laboratory rats. From 1997 he has been professor in laboratory animal science and welfare under the University of Copenhagen (formerly Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University). In 2000 he was made charter diplomat and was together with six others founding the European College of Laboratory Animal Medicine. His research area has primarily been on how the microbiota has an impact on laboratory animal models for inflammatory diseases and how this works in conjunction with the diet. He has published 151 original and 36 review peer-reviewed papers in scientific journals, 20 proceedings papers, 17 papers in non-peer journals, and two full textbooks, including "Handbook of Laboratory Animal Bacteriology" from CRC Press.

MILITE GIANPAOLO

Gianpaolo graduated in Veterinary Medicine (DVM) at the University of Parma (Italy). He gained his Master of Science in Laboratory Animals at the Royal Veterinary College in London (UK). For many years he worked as production manager of a large SPF in the Germ-free and Gnotobiotic rodent units, with responsibility also for the health status and monitoring of the rodents bred. Since 2000, on a consultancy basis, he offers Scientific support to various private institutions. He is also Professor at the Veterinary Faculty (Milano) in the post-graduate course on Laboratory Animal Medicine.

PELIN L CANDARLIOGLU

Pelin is a tissue engineer by training having received her PhD in the field from Imperial College London but moved into oncology during her PostDoc position about circulating tumour cells at the UCL. Her introduction to Organ On Chip (OoC) was during the time when she was leading a Cell Biology/Microfluidics lab in Cambridge at Enplas Corporation where she was developing a microfluidic chip system specifically designed for cell therapy applications. Currently, as part of Complex In Vitro Models (CIVM) group, she is leading a small team in UK utilizing her expertise in microfluidics, tissue engineering and especially OoC to lead multiple initiatives both externally and internally to expand the complex in vitro model portfolio of GSK for immuno-oncology and cell therapies. Pelin is an active member of the 3Rs initiative in GSK and supporting from replacement aspect. She is also representing GSK globally in relevant organizations such as NA3RsC MPS Initiative, IQ-MPS, NC3R, OOACT in UK and also as the Chair of Industry Advisory board at EUROoCS.

PEREIRA NUNO M.

Nuno M. Pereira graduated in Veterinary Medicine in 1987 and started working in a small animal clinic and with wild animals, namely Iberian Wolves. Twenty-two years ago, he started focusing on aquatic animal medicine holding the position of attending vet at the Oceanário de Lisboa. Besides ornamental fish medicine, since 2006, Nuno also started working in aquatic animal research facilities as the attending vet. Currently he assists 3 aquatic fish facilities situated in Lisbon, Portugal (Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciências - IGC, Instituto Universitário de Ciências Psicológicas, Sociais e da Vida - ISPA and Chronic Diseases Research Centre/ Nova Medical School - CEDOC). There his main focus is in supporting design and execution of the health control program. These facilities work not only with zebrafish and mozambique-tilapia but also with several other fish species and amphibians. He is a member of the FELASA-AALAS working group on health monitoring for fish in research. Since 2005 he is an invited Lecturer at the Veterinary Faculty of Universidade Lusófona de Humanidades e Tecnologias in Lisbon, teaching fish medicine and Conservation Medicine.

PRINS JAN-BAS

Jan-Bas Prins received his master's degree with distinction from the Wageningen University in the Netherlands. He went on to doing his PhD in Laboratory Animal Science with Prof. Dr. L. van Zutphen at the University of Utrecht. After post-doctoral projects at the University of Oxford, UK, and the Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands, he became the head of the pre-clinical division of the Department of Pulmonary Diseases at the Erasmus Medical Centre. In 2002, he took the position of Director of the Central Animal Facility of the Leiden University Medical Centre, LUMC, in the Netherlands. Since October 2018 he is the Director of the Biological Research Facility of The Francis Crick Institute in London, UK. He is Professor of Laboratory Animal Science at the LUMC and the University of Leiden and Honorary Professor Animal Science and Welfare at UCL. He is a member of the Netherlands National Committee for the protection of animals used for scientific purposes. Jan-Bas Prins is Chairman of Laboratory Animals Ltd, Vice-chairman of the Scientific Committee of the Fondazione Guido Bernardini, Vice-President of the Institute of Animal Technology, Animal Welfare Officer and scientific advisor on animal welfare of Infrafrontier (IF2020), a past-President of FELASA, member of the External council for Comparative Medicine at the Karolinska Institute, Stockholm, Sweden and an AAALAC ad hoc specialist.

SMITH ADRIAN

Adrian Smith is a British veterinarian who graduated from Cambridge University in 1979. After a year in mixed practice in the UK he emigrated to Norway, where he has lived since and now has dual nationality. For much of this time he was employed by the Norwegian School of Veterinary Science, where he held the Chair in Laboratory Animal Science until he left the School in 2011. He was heavily involved in the work of introducing mandatory training in laboratory animal science in Norway, and has arranged over 50 courses for all personnel categories.Since 2007 Adrian has been Secretary of Norecopa, and he also served for 8 years on the Board of the Danish 3R Centre.He has has co-authored several 3Rs databases, is lead author of the PREPARE guidelines for planning animal experiments, and manages the Refinement Wiki.

TOFT MARTIN FITZNER

Martin has worked in the laboratory animal industry for almost 20 years and currently holds the position as Managing Director at QM Diagnostics in The Netherlands. Throughout his career he has worked with a focus on the quality of laboratory animals. After graduation as a laboratory animal veterinarian from the Royal Veterinary and Agricultural University in Copenhagen in 2003 he started working for a large commercial breeder with responsibility for the genetic and microbial quality of animals bred in the European facilities. Later he assumed global technical responsibility for germ free and gnotobiotic isolator breeding and collaborated with several academic groups to develop the first generation of microbiome models based on xeno- and allografts of microfloras into germ free mice. Since 2016, Martin has worked for QM Diagnostics as a veterinary expert in laboratory animal health monitoring and bioexclusion but has maintained an interest and active role in the field of improving animal models by controlling and manipulating the microbiome.

TORNANI ALESSANDRO

Alessandro graduated in Biomedical Engineering at University of Bologna (Italy), with a specialization in biological systems and bio-imaging, in 2011. After a first experience in the field of artificial kidney and extra-corporeal filtration for patient with renal diseases, he moved to nuclear medicine sector as a product developer of automatic systems and isolators for the synthesis, transport, dosing and injection, in sterile conditions, of radiopharmaceuticals for tumor diagnosis and therapy. In the last 8 years he was also in charge of the development of isolators and automatic disinfection systems for pharma industries, with the scope of guaranteeing aseptic conditions during the production of pharmaceuticals, even with high toxicity. Alessandro worked also in the field of laboratory animal science as product manager – decontamination solution – for IWT (part of TECNIPLAST group), following products for the automatic low-temperature disinfection of closed environments and rooms. He currently works for ROMACO group as R&D - product manager, leading the Isolation Technology and Bio-Decontamination team.

FORMER FACULTY

BADER MICHAEL

Michael Bader graduated in Biology at the University of Freiburg, Germany in 1984 and gained his PhD in 1989 and in 2010 the Full Professorship, Charitè at University Medicine in Berlin. During his career he has won several awards. Since 1994 he has been group Leader in the Hypertension research at the Max-Delbruck-Center for Molecular Medicine in Berlin. His research work focuses mainly on Molecular biology of genes coding for cardiovascular hormones; Generation and characterization of genetically altered animal models for the functional analysis of cardiovascular hormones and Development of transgenic technology in mouse and rat

BERARD MARION

Marion Berard is Veterinarian and Deputy Head of the Central Animal Facility of the Institut Pasteur, in Paris, France. She is the director of the Centre for Gnotobiology of the Institut Pasteur (CGIP). She is one of the founding members and coordinator of the European Consortium for Gnotobiology (http://www.ecgnoto.eu) and part of the INFRAFRONTIER 2020 project and microbiome research (https://www.infrafrontier.eu/resources-and-services/axenic-service/infrafrontier-axenic-germ-free-service). She received her D.V.M. degree from the National Veterinary School of Lyon, France in 1994, and her PhD in Immunology and a degree in Industrial Management from the University of Lyon in 2000. She has previously worked as a scientist for governmental research institutes in France and in the UK, and as a veterinarian for Charles River. She has been the president of the French Association for Laboratory Animal Science ("AFSTAL") between 2008 and 2010. She is an active member of different international organizations related to the sciences of laboratory animals.

BUSSELL JAMES

James Bussell has been involved in animal research for over 20 years and for the majority of that time he has been associated with the production and use of Genetically Modified (GM) mice. During his time in the Comparative Genomics Division of GlaxoSmithKline he became proficient in many aspects of transgenic and knockout mouse production including all the required elements of embryo recovery, handling, micromanipulation and implantation and culturing techniques for Embryonic Stem Cells helping in standardizing their pre-injection archiving; he played a lead role in developing the company"s cryopreservation capability along with the breeding and experimental protocols for the utilization of their Cre-Lox technology models Since 2007 his attention has focused on many aspects of the optimization of GM production and facility management after joining The Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute. As part of this role he heads the Institutes Research Support Facility leading a skilled team of technicians who support the animal welfare and procedural activities of the Institutes Model Organisms program.

CAPILLO MANUELA

Manuela graduated in Veterinary Medicine in 1993 and specialized in Laboratory Animal Science and Medicine in 2002 at the University of Milan, Italy. Since 1998 she has worked as a freelance consultant veterinarian for a large research centre in Milan, Italy. Currently she has legal responsibility for animal welfare (D.L.vo 116/92)

COSGROVE CHRIS

Chris Cosgrove has been dedicated to the field of laboratory animal research for over 25 years. A biologist by training, he found his home in the lab animal field first as a specialist in equipment and facility decontamination processes followed by years of experience in equipment planning, installation and as a planner specializing in animal facility design. He has assisted with the analysis, design, construction and start up of over 2 million square feet of animal space accommodating a wide range of research types, species and biosecurity levels. He has been an instructor on facility design at the Institute for Lab Animal Management, member of the Canadian Council on Animal Care guidelines committee for Air Quality in Laboratory Animal Facilities, a frequent speaker at industry conferences and author of numerous articles on best practices and trends in laboratory animal facility design. As part of his commitment to outreach education in the laboratory animal community, he is a volunteer with ACURET (www.acuret.org) a NGO dedicated to promoting humane animal care and use of animals for research in developing countries. You can reach Chris at ccosgrove@elmcos.com.

CLERICI CRISTIAN

After graduating in Aerospace Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano (Italy), Cristian initially worked as Project Leader in a manufacturing company producing power presses and consulting for a private engineering practice. He joined a specialized company in 2003 as Project Manager. Currently he coordinates the Project Management team.

CUBITT STEVE

Steve is Director of the Cube, which is based in Cambridge, U.K. and Dublin, Ireland. For the last ten years he has specialised in Biomedical and Biology facility design, building and refurbishment projects. He completed his first Animal Facility project in 1985. He currently provides specialist services and consultancy on a wide range of projects in the UK and internationally. Steven has followed a philosophy of designing facilities which meet the needs of the research, improve animal welfare, enable better science and create an environment which recognises the welfare of the staff.
He is actively involved in the new educational programmes of the IAT and is Secretary of The Board of Educational Policy and The Syllabus Review Board. He is also a member of UFAW/RSPCA rodent and rabbit welfare groups, which published Refining Rabbit Care in 2006 www.rspca.org.uk/researchrabbits
He is a Fellow of the Institute of Animal Technology and completed his MSc in Animal Technology in 2004.

CURRIE GILLIAN

Gillian Currie graduated with First Class Honours in Biomedical Science (Pharmacology) at the University of Edinburgh in 2007 and gained her Ph.D. "Novel analgesic interventions in cancer-induced bone pain" at the University of Edinburgh in 2012. She is a postdoctoral researcher specialised in systematic review and meta-analysis of preclinical studies. She uses these techniques to drive improvements in preclinical research, by providing empirical evidence to inform the refinement of experimental design and by investigating the impact of risks of bias on reported outcomes. Her work also involves providing guidance to others in the application of meta-analysis techniques in a diverse range of research contexts as part of the NC3Rs funded Systematic Review Facility (SyRF); a fully integrated online platform for performing systematic review and meta-analysis of preclinical studies (syrf.org.uk). She is also contributing towards implementing new technologies, such as machine learning and text mining, to facilitate the systematic review process.

DE ANGELIS ISABELLA

Isabella De Angelis, graduated in Biological Sciences, is researcher at the Department of Environment and Health of the Italian National Institute of Health (Istituto Superiore di Sanità, ISS). Her research interests are focused on the application of cell culture in toxicology, covering both aspects of screening of toxic molecules as well as their action mechanisms, with particular attention to the absorption processes of chemicals and nanoparticles through the epithelial barriers. She has been involved in National and European projects on in vitro toxicology and on regulatory acceptance of in vitro methods. Since 2011, she is Head of Delegation at the OECD Working Party of Manufactured Nanomaterials and member of the ISS working group "Nanomaterials and Health". She also carries out a significant dissemination activity on 3Rs principle and on application of in vitro methods in many institutional courses organized by ISS, University, Local Authorities and Scientific Societies.

DE BONT FRED

Fred De Bont is managing consultant building and lab design at the engineering office VAN LOOY GROUP in Belgium.
Fred De Bont started his career as engineer in the world of construction and building in 1980 and joined VAN LOOY GROUP in 1986.
During the last 2 decennia Fred De Bont had the opprtunity to gather experience and expertise in the design and construction of laboratories in general, and more particular in animal facilities. Fred De Bont was involved in projects for Johnson & Johnson, Phillip Morris, University of Leiden, University of Utrecht, University of Maastricht and others.

DE BRUIN WIEKE

Wieke graduated in Biology at the Catholic University Nijmegen, The Wieke graduated in Biology at the Catholic University Nijmegen, The Netherlands, in 1989 and gained her PhD in 1994. She worked as scientist at several research projects on viral infections, carcinogenesis and cancer homeostasis. In 2003 she started as scientist at QM Diagnostics and in 2008 she became director of the company. She is a lecturer at Laboratory Animal Science course of the Radboudumc (Nijmegen, The Netherlands).

DEENY ADRIAN

Adrian has recently been appointed Director of Biological Services at University College London. As a microbiologist with >30 years experience in the lab animal industry working in lab animal microbiological monitoring and genetic testing, Adrian was with Harlan Laboratories since 1991. He built up the laboratory service such that Harlan Laboratories UK is one of the leading labs involved in health monitoring. During his career, Adrian has established laboratories in commercial and university settings nationally and internationally.He has been involved in many aspects of laboratory animal science and technology in addition to health monitoring. He was Director, Animal Resources Centre, Perth, Western Australia, worked in laboratory animal diet supply, and has worked on the development of flexible film isolators. Adrian"s field of specialism, however, is laboratory animal health monitoring. He was a member of both of the FELASA Working Groups formulating recommendations for health monitoring of rodents, and more recently was a member of the FELASA Working Group on accreditation of health monitoring programmes and laboratories. He frequently presents talks to scientific meetings and contributes to courses for veterinary surgeons, scientists and animal technicians.

DOCKX PETER

Peter Dockx is as senior consultant laboratories designer responsible for the laboratory market of Van Looy Group. Peter has made several technical concepts for laboratories for pharmaceutical plants, research facilities, quality control, health sector,… To enforce Van Looy Group"s ambition, Peter is actively involved in EGNATON (European Association for Sustainable Laboratories). He is chairman of the "Lab Energy" work group and member of the technical committee. During the last decennia Peter Dockx had the opprtunity to gather experience and expertise in the design and construction of animal facilities. Peter was involved in projects for Johnson & Johnson, Phillip Morris, The Dutch Cancer Institute, MSD AH, Universities of Leiden, -Utrecht, -Leuven, -Maastricht, -Groningen and -Brussels.

DURAND STEPHANIE

Stephanie Durand is a diagnostic scientist at the Veterinary and Professional Services (Charles River France). Stephanie received Ph.D. in Virology and Parasitology at the University of Montpellier (France) in 1997. Stephanie worked as a research scientist for 10 years and was in charge of research projects on viral diseases such as foot and mouth disease, classic swine fever for international veterinary institutes or universities (UK, US, NL). Stephanie began in 2009 her role at Charles River France as diagnostic laboratory manager and now she is the lead scientist for diagnostic and health monitoring in Europe for CRL. She is active in the French association for laboratory animal science (AFSTAL) and was a member of the executive committee for 6 years.

FERVORINI ALESSANDRA

Alessandra graduated from the Politecnico di Milano (Italy) with a degree in Management, economics and industrial engineering. For the first few years after graduation she worked as project manager for a company manufacturing flyback transformers and later for a company operating in the field of plastics recycling. In 2004 she started working for a specialized company as project manager, contributing to managing projects from the design phase to the installation of equipment, as well as being involved in training and testing activities.

GUILLEN JAVIER

He obtained his veterinary medicine degree at the University of Zaragoza (Spain) in 1990, and was for 17 years Director of the Laboratory Animal Services at the University of Navarra in Pamplona, Spain. Between 2003 and 2008 he was also a member of the AAALAC International Council on Accreditation. In 2008 he joined the AAALAC International staff as Director of European Activities He is currently Director for Europe and Latin America. He also served first as Secretary and later as President of FELASA in the period between 2002 and 2010. He is member of the ICLAS Governing Board and President of SECAL (Spanish association for laboratory animal science). He is member of the Council of Management and Executive Committee of Laboratory Animals Ltd.

HARMELIN ALON

He obtained his veterinary medicine degree in 1987 at the University of Pretoria, Onderstepoort, South Africa. Returning to Israel, he joined the Kimron Veterinary Institute to the Department of Veterinary Pathology. He qualified as a specialist in Veterinary Pathology in 1994. Over the years, Prof. Harmelin has held a number of veterinary positions, at the Koret School of Veterinary Medicine, Hebrew University of Jerusalem as lecturer at the Koret Veterinary School in veterinary histology and pathology, and gained the rank of Associate Professor. In 1995, he was appointed Deputy Head of the Weizmann Institute's Veterinary Resources; he has headed this Department since the spring of 1997. In 2001 he was awarded the European degree of Diplomate from the European College of Laboratory Animal Medicine, and serves at present as the head of the ECLAM training committee. He is past president of the Israeli Laboratory Animal Forum and Member of the Governing Board of the Koret Veterinary Hospital

HARTMANN FRIIS HANSEN CAMILLA

Graduated in veterinary medicine 2008 from University of Copenhagen and specialized in laboratory animal science during PhD and post doc with a focus on early life gut environment as a regulator of host immune responses and disease susceptibility. Did a 1½ year post doc in Dr Alexander Chervonskys lab at University of Chicago working with the influence of gut microbiota on autoimmunity and has now returned as an assistant professor at University of Copenhagen at the section for experimental animal models. Present research areas involves germ-free mice, antibiotics, pro-and prebiotics, and diets to characterize and study the impact of gut microbiota on various murine models of human inflammatory diseases as a way to minimize the use of rodents in scientific experiments without compromising the prospect of obtaining scientifically valid data.

JERCOW BORIS

Boris Jerchow works at the Max-Delbrück-Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) in Berlin, Germany. He is Assistant Director of the institute's animal service department and at the same time holds the position of an Animal Welfare Officer. Boris has an extensive background in rodent genetics and genetic engineering. He is active in the German Society for Laboratory Animal Sciences, member of the Board of Directors of the International Society for Transgenic Technologies since (ISTT), and President of the Working Team of Berlin Animal Welfare Officers (Arbeitskreis Berliner Tierschutzbeauftragte). Before his career with MDC, he was employed as Head of Transgenic Technologies with Swiss based RCC, now part of Harlan Laboratories. Boris was trained as a chemical engineer at the Berlin Institute of Technology and then did his PhD in genetics, where he had his first contact with genetically engineered mice. Boris strongly believes that it is through training and education that we can most efficiently and at the same time most humanely utilize animals in science.

KOLBE THOMAS

Thomas graduated at the University of Goettingen, Germany in Agricultural Science (1995) and gained his PhD there in the field of assisted reproduction in pigs (1998). He managed as PostDoc a small rodent facility at the Institute of Agrobiotechnology in Tulln, Austria and produced new mouse models (1999-2006). As Assistant Professor at the Veterinary University Vienna, Institute of Laboratory Animal Science he coordinates several mouse facilities, transgenic services, and research projects, conducts lectures for students and courses for postgraduates. He is member of the International Society of Transgenic Technologies (ISTT) and the Gesellschaft für Versuchstierkunde (GV-SOLAS), member of the Educational Initiatives Committee (ISTT), 3R"s Committee (ISTT), Working Group on Hygiene (GV), and Working Group on Expert of Laboratory Animal Science (GV). At the university he is animal welfare officer for Department 1 (Biological Sciences), member of the animal welfare committee of the university, and member of the Federal Commission on Animal Experimentation in Austria. Since 2013 he is Expert of Laboratory Animal Science (GV-SOLAS). Since 2017 he works as an Associate Professor.

LILJA MATS

Mats Lilja is a project manager at the Facilities management and planning office of the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. He came to the KI in the start of 2009. He has been involved in several reconstruction-, renewal- and expansion projects of the animal facilities of KI. At present he is the project manager of a new laboratory with an adjoining animal facility in a separate building. It is to be operational 2018 and will be a new state of the art laboratory for KI"s experimental scientific departments and some 1500 - 1600 researchers. The animal facility is planned to contain the equivalent of 20 000 - 25 000 cages TIIL and a comparativeley large set of laboratories with in the facility. Prior to coming to the KI he worked, 1999 - 2009, as a Facilites manager at the Biomedical centre, Uppsala University, in Uppsala. A biomedical research facility spanning a wide range of academic research in the fields of Biomedicine, medicine, biology, chemistry.At the site was also an animal facility for rodents.

LUPI MASSIMO

Massimo Lupi, degree in organizational psychology the University of Padua specialized in Organizational Behavior currently Adjunt Professor of Organizational Behavior at MIP Politecnico of Milan Graduate School of Business and external advisor for multinational companies in the areas of leadership, internal communication, team working, individual empowerment. Coauthor of "Generations at work" (included di MC Bombelli "Generazioni al Lavoro" Ed Guerini " ). Previously Training and Development manager in Beirsdorf Italy , responsible for training and development in Sony Europe in Berlin and responsible for worldwide projects in Talent Management at Microsoft Corporation in Redmond (Seattle - United States).

MANTOVANI ENRICA

Enrica was born in Milan, Italy, in 1981. She obtained a BSD (2004), and an MSD (2006) in Biomedical Engineering at the Politecnico di Milano. From 2002 to 2006 she collaborated with the Laboratory of Functional Anatomy of the Locomotor Apparatus (University of Milan), publishing as co-author 8 scientific papers. Since 2007, she has been IO & QA Assistant with SVS Stericheck Consulting s.r.l. (Legnano, Italy), providing advice on Good Manufacturing Practice in pharmaceutical production.

MARTINO PIERANNA

PierAnna graduated in Biological Science from the University of Milan in1991 , gaining a PhD in Zootechnical Sciences in 1999 and a specialization in Laboratory Animal Sciences in 2002. Since 2001 she has been involved as a researcher of infectious diseases in domestic animals and currently heads the Bacteriological Diagnostic Section at the Microbiology and Immunology branch of the Department of Animal Pathology, Hygiene and Veterinary Public Health in Milan.
She is the author of 70 scientific papers, 30 at an international level, some of which deal with anti-prionic molecules both in vivo and in vitro.
Her research work focuses mainly on veterinary bacteriology and mycology and particularly in classical diagnosis of animal infectious diseases, studies of bacterial strain characterisation and bacterial antibiotic-resistance. She is also involved in environmental microbiology in rabbits and other laboratory animals.

MONTOLIU JOSE' LUIS

Lluis Montoliu graduated in Biology at the University of Barcelona, Spain in 1986 and gained his PhD in 1990; In 1997 he started at the Centro Nacional de Biotecnologia (CNB-CSIC, Madrid) as a group leader, his research team is working on the mechanisms controlling gene expression in mammals using genetically modified animals. In addition his group has generated several transgenic and knockout mice, as animal models to study several human diseases such albinism, schizophrenia and Alzheimer. He is also member of several working groups, commissions and associations involved on Animal transgenesis, biotechnological applications of genetically modified animals, stem cells cloning and bioethics

MORTELL NORMAN

Norman has worked within the life science sector for over 35 years, working within Academic, Pharmaceutical and Contract research facilities including a spell working at an Italian research facility. Norman has worked in his current position at Agenda for over 13 years overseeing the resource management, marketing and security divisions. An active member of the Institute of Animal Technology he chairs the Communications Group and has presented numerous papers on animal welfare, facility design and research security. Animal welfare, research continuity, resilience and openness are key areas of interest to Norman.

NICKLAS WERNER

Werner studied veterinary medicine at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hannover, Germany, followed by postgraduate studies in microbiology. For the first year after graduation he worked at the Institute for Microbiology at the University of Veterinary Medicine in Hannover. Since 1979 he has worked at the German Cancer Research Centre in Heidelberg. He was deputy head of the Central Animal Laboratories and from 1994 to 2015 he was head of Microbiological Diagnostics. His main task was health monitoring of rodents and other laboratory animals. He was a member and convenor of several FELASA working groups, and since 2005 he has been a network member of the "ICLAS Research Animal Quality Control and Characterization Network". Since 2001 he is a diplomate of the European College of Laboratory Animal Medicine.

NICHOLLS SAM

Sam was in the UK Police for over 32 years, the last 15 years of his service were spent working specifically on the investigation of Terrorism and Extremism nationally and internationally. He held the post of Head of Special Branch; the interface between the Police Service and the UK Intelligence Agencies. Following the Animal Rights Extremist (ARE) protests at Consort Kennels, Herefordshire, UK in 1996, where he was the intelligence lead, he advised other UK Police Forces regarding aspects of ARE methodology, particularly the campaigns against Hillgrove Cattery, Sequani, Huntingdon Life Sciences and others. He has managed many areas of covert policing and was one of a small cadre of senior investigating officers authorised to conduct Counter Terrorist and Extremist Investigations on behalf of the UK. In 2003 he was appointed Head of Operations for the National Public Order Intelligence Unit, controlling intelligence assets deployed in the UK and elsewhere, and, in 2005, was asked by Assistant Chief Constable Anton Setchell, the National Coordinator of Domestic Extremism (NCDE) to form and lead the UK"s National Domestic Extremism Team under the title of National Coordinator of Operations - Domestic Extremism (NCODE), charged with initiating and coordinating the UKs policing effort in respect of Animal Rights. The role included working with, and investigating offences on behalf of, a number of partner countries within and outside the European Union including the United States of America. He left the Police Service in 2008 following the arrest of the top tier of the Animal Rights Extremists to pursue a further career. In 2009 he was invited by the British Government to create and deliver the support4rs (www.support4rs.com) concept to promote safety, resilience, reassurance and preparedness within the UK"s public research sector. Sam has also business interests within the commercial sector for global corporations, in the areas of Risk Assessment and Critical Incident Management generally, and Kidnap and Extortion specifically.

PERRETTA GEMMA

Gemmagraduated in Veterinary Medicine and specialized in Laboratory Animal Science and Medicine at Milan University. She has been for thirtyyearhead of the Division of Special Zoology and Animal Models of the Institute of Neurobiology and Molecular Medicine of the Italian National Research Council in Rome. She is past president of the Federation of European Laboratory Animal Science Associations (FELASA), past president of the Italian Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AISAL). She was special consultant for the International Council of Laboratory Animal Science (ICLAS) and has served as Vice-president on the board of the Italian Association for Primatology (API). Her research interests are mainly focused on aspects relating to the health and welfare of laboratory animals, in particular, non human primates and she has been Scientific Supervisor of several research projects.

PISTELLO MAURO

Mauro Pistello graduated in Biological Sciences, curriculum Biomedicine, at the University of Padua in1988 and received the Ph.D. in Virus Immunobiology at the University of Pisa in 1993. From 1993 to 2001 he has been Assistant Professor and since then Associated Professor in Clinical Microbiology at the University of Pisa, Medical School. From 2006 to 2009 he has been Visiting Professor at the University of Massachusetts Medical School, Worcester, MA, USA. He also worked at the Institute of Infectious Diseases and Immunology, State University of Utrecht, NL, and at the Department of Veterinary Pathology, University of Glasgow, UK. His main interests are the natural history, pathogenesis, and vaccines against lentiviruses and use of lentiviral vectors for gene therapy and vaccination. Additional areas of research include hepatitis C virus and TT virus

PISTOLESI DARIO

Dario graduated in 1956 with a degree in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Milan, later following a specialization course in applied nuclear chemistry at the Politecnico di Milano.
From 1968 to 1972 he was General Manger at Millipore Italy, a Life Science leader providing cutting-edge technologies, tools and services for bioscience research and biopharmaceutical manufacturing.
Later, from 1973 to 1992, he worked in the field of sterilization at Fedegari Autoclaves, firstly as Sales Manager, then as R&D Manager.
Since then he has worked as a free-lance specialist in the field of sterilization for a number of firms and organizations. He is President of the sterilization Sub-Commission of UNI, the Italian Standardization Body, and a member of the technical committee on sterilizers of CEN, the European Standardization Body, as well as being the Italian expert in WG sterilization of the European Pharmacopoeia Commission.
Dario is an active member of the Parenteral Drug Association/USA, of the Industrial Pharmaceutical Operators Association in Italy and the Italian Association of Health Sterilization Operators.
He is a guest teacher of sterilization technology at the universities of Milan, Pavia, Bologna, Parma, Siena and Perugia and the Technical Expert for certification bodies such as IMQ, ICIM and CERMET for sterile medical devices conformity to Directive 93/42/CE.
Dario is the author of countless papers and presentations on sterilization technology.

POPOVA ELENA

Popova Elena completed her doctorate in the general biology dealing with studies focused on embryological and molecular factors affecting the efficiency of transgenic animal production at the All-Russian Institute of Physiology, Biochemistry and Feeding of Farm Animals, RAAS, Borovsk, Kaluga Region, Russia in 2000. Afterwards, as a post doctorate she joined cardiovascular group of Prof. Michael Bader, at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (MDC) Berlin-Buch, where she directed her research on new technologies for the generation of genetically modified rodents as a model organisms for the study of human diseases. She has also a strong emphasis in the field of rat embryology and stem cell research.
She contributed to development of somatic and embryonic cell nuclear transfer experiments in the rat in order to allow targeted genetic alterations. In addition, she is also performing isolation of embryonic stem cells from rat preimplantation embryos. These cells are used to explore the signaling cascades underlying mechanisms of pluripotency in the rat, and to establish homologous recombination and thereby allowing gene targeting in the rat. At the MDC she is also active member of training facility for PhD students in the fields of experimental embryology of mammals, in vitro manipulation with mammalian gametes and embryos.

POST RAINER

Rainer Post, born in 1962 graduated as Dipl. Ing. Architect from the Technische Universität München in 1991, is the cofounder and CEO of "doranth post architekten GmbH" Munich and has been since 1995. The office has extensive experience in the planning and execution of laboratory building, especially in the designing and planning of animal facilities. The offices has planned and seen to completion 18 animal facility buildings in Germany; Switzerland and Austria. Rainer Post is working as a consultant for several research institutions in Europe and is also member of the GV-Solas (co-author of issue 1 "Planning and structure of animal facility buildings" Cap. 8 technic and construction). In addition he was member of the working group 5 of Infrafrontier (The European Infrastructure for phenotyping and archiving), and is the co-author of "Structural and Functional Concepts in Current Mouse Phenotyping and Archiving Facilities" (Journal of the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science, Vol. 51, No 4 July 2012).

RECORDATI CAMILLA

Camilla Recordati obtained her degree in Veterinary Medicine in 2001 with honours from the University of Milan. She received her PhD in Animal Pathology in 2009 and obtained the board certification of the European College of Veterinary Pathologist (ECVP) in 2010. She is currently an independent consultant in veterinary pathology. Her research interests include the study of animal models for human diseases, regenerative medicine, nanotoxicology, and spontaneous pathology of laboratory animals.

SAGGIN RICCARDO

Riccardo graduated from Politecnico di Milano ( bachelor Degree 2010 ) and master degree in Civil Engineering specialization in Waste Water Treatment/Hydraulic ( University of Pavia 2013 ). A couple of year as International Sales Engineer for a worldwide company in the field of pressure and flow measurement instrumentation (Chemical - Petro-chemical ). He is actually holding the role of Area Manager in IWT, looking after Pacif Asia areas.

SCANZIANI EUGENIO

Eugenio Scanziani is Full Professor of Veterinary Pathology at the University of Milano, Italy where he degrees in Veterinary Medicine in 1979 with honours. From 1979 to 1981 he gets a fellowship at the "Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale" of Brescia to be trained in the diagnosis of infectious diseases of animals. From 1981 to 1984 he works as Veterinary Inspector at the municipal slaughterhouse of Milan. From 1984 he is a full staff member of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Milan. From 1995 he is Charter Member of the European College of Veterinary Pathologists (ECVP). During 1997-2002 he is member of the Examination Board of the ECVP. From 2004 to 2005 he is the President of the Italian Association of Veterinary Pathology (AIPVet). From 2007 to 2010 he was the Dean of the Faculty of Veterinary Medicine of Milan. From 2008 he is the Head of the Mouse & Animal Pathology Lab (MAPLab) - Fondazione Filarete, Milan. From 2009 to 2013 he was nominated Member of the "Consiglio Superiore di Sanità", Ministry of Health, Rome. His area of research in the field of veterinary pathology is mainly focused on the study of animal models for human diseases. Eugenio Scanziani has published 170 peer reviewed articles indexed in PubMed and has a "h index" of 35.

STAFFELD JURGEN

Dr. Staffeldt was born in Molln, Germany in 1948 and since 1978 he is working with Dr. Weigert GmbH & Co. KG in Hamburg as the head of det. Application technology.
From 1964 to 1967 he worked as chemical laboratory assistant at Beiersdorf AG in Hamburg
1972 graduated from the Technical higher education institution in Berlin as chemical Engineer .1975 graduated form the Technical University in Berlin in chemistry.1978 Dr. rer. nat degree from the Technical University in Berlin.

VAN DE VEN ESTHER

Esther graduated in Biology at the Catholic University Nijmegen, The Netherlands, in 1989 and gained her PhD in Medical Microbiology in 1995.
Her working experience: 1995 - 1998 PHD at the department of Gastroenterology, University Medical Centre Nijmegen; 2000-2005: PHD at the department of Medical Microbiology / ICLAS reference lab for rodent viruses, University Medical Centre Nijmegen.
2003: Initiative QM Diagnostics as director QM Diagnostics BV
Representative of QM Diagnostics scientific reference centre of the ICLAS Laboratory Animal Network www.iclas.org/Network.htm

VITALE AUGUSTO

Augusto Vitale has obtained his Ph.D. in Behavioural Ecology at the University of Aberdeen in 1988. He has then started to work on non-human primates the following year, collaborating with Dr. Visalberghi of the CNR in Rome, and Prof. Fragaszy in U.S.A. Dr.Vitale is now researcher in animal behaviour at the Istituto Superiore di Sanità in Rome, at the Center for Behavioural Sciences and Mental Health. He has been President of the Italian Association of Primatology, and is currently General Secretary for the European Federation of Primatology. He is member of the Expert Working Groups of the European Commission in Bruxelles, for the implementation of the European Directive 2010/63, on the protection of animals used in scientific procedures. He is member of the Animal Welfare Body of his institution, and he is an evaluator of research projects involving animal models, on behalf of the Italian Ministry of Health.

WALLACE JIM

Executive Editor, ALN Europe and CEO of Science Associates, a UK based consultancy agency -specialising in management reviews, applications of IVC systems and control of Laboratory Animal Allergy. Previously Head of Biological Services at major UK research facilities. Associated with over 20 publications in cancer research; laboratory animal allergy, animal science and laboratory animals welfare indicators.

WARDLE-JONES HANNAH

Hannah Wardle is head of Colony Management Services, specialising in the production and breeding of Genetically Modified (GM) mice, at the Wellcome Sanger Institute. She started her career working on high throughput International collaborations that contributed to projects such as the International Knockout Mouse Consortium (IKMC), International Mouse Phenotyping Consortium (IMPC) and EUCOMMTools. More recently she is involved with the design and implementation of more complex and bespoke breeding programs, including cancer model generation andin vivoallele manipulation, designed to meet the research objectives while upholding the 3R"s. She is an active member of the Sanger"s Mouse Welfare forum and a committee member for LASA"s transgenic section.