The third annual report from the Portuguese Transparency Agreement, published this week, shows that most biomedical institutions have actively engaged with the public about their use of animals in research.
Coordinated by EARA since 2018, the Agreement now has 25 signatory institutions from both the public and private sectors.
The latest report (also in Portuguese) notes an increasing number of institutions sharing images of their animal research facilities (71%) or of the actual animals used (47%), and nearly all signatories (94%) featuring a position statement on animal research on their websites.
The report is also featured as part of Science and Technology Week in Portugal, with a 12-hour social media campaign on EARA Twitter/X.
Despite this progress, the report also identifies areas needing improvement, such as increasing the presence of non-technical project summaries on institutional websites and boosting communication efforts through lectures and presentations, within the signatory institutions.
EARA executive director, Kirk Leech, said: “It is good to see that openness in Portugal continues to move forward and the additions of signatories from the pharmaceutical industry and patient associations, like APDP Diabetes, demonstrates the ongoing commitment to a dialogue about animal research with the public.”
Some examples of openness from Portuguese signatories of the Transparency Agreement:
#TransparencyThursday – Ana Isabel Moura Santos (NOVA Medical School), Ana João Rodrigues (Life and Health Sciences Research Institute) and series on Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S) Instagram page.
Videos - Case Study - Sílvia Conde, PI at Neuronal Control of Metabolic Disturbances: Therapeutic Strategies(NOVA Medical School), Meet IGC Scientists – Rui Oliveira (Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência), Tour of the animal facility and interview with several technicians and researchers (Coimbra Institute for Clinical and Biomedical Research).
Social Networks - Post LinkedIn (Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade de Lisboa), Post Facebook (Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência), Post Facebook (Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência), Post Twitter (Instituto Gulbenkian de Ciência), Post Facebook (Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde).
See also: Research Professional News 21/11/2023