About usRedazione2024-05-14T14:01:14+02:00
About us
The Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (IZSVe) is an Italian public health institute which conducts control and research activities and provides services in the fields of animal health, food safety and zoonoses. It was founded on June, 14, 1929 in Padua and today it is part of the Italian National Health Service, together with other nine other similar institutes, each of which covers a specific geographical area of Italy.
The IZSVe is responsible for the North East of Italy, and its headquarter is located at Legnaro, Padova. It employs about 600 people, including veterinarians, biologists, chemists, technicians and administration staff.
Mission and activitiesOrganisationContacts
Mission and activities
The mission of the IZSVe is the preservation of public health, in terms of food safety and prevention of zoonoses, and animal welfare, in terms of animal health and living conditions. Its main activities and istitutional mandates are:
- to perform diagnostic services on animals and analytical controls on foods;
- to design and implement disease surveillance and control plans;
- to conduct scientific research and pursue technological innovation;
- to provide professional training for veterinarians and the food industry;
- to promote scientific communication, health awareness and animal welfare.
Organisation
The IZSVe is organized into three directorates:
Directorate general
The Directorate general consists of services and units responsible for the management of strategic activities and for support the government of the Institute:
- Communication Unit
- General Affairs, Anti-corruption and Transparency Service
- Information Technologies Service
- Legal Affairs Service
- Research Coordination Service
- Work Health and Safety Service
- Planning, Programming and Control Unit
- Secretariat Directorate-General Unit
Administrative Directorate
The Administrative Directorate disposes of all administrative procedures required to support the scientific and institutional activities of the IZSVe, and it is composed of four structures (SCA/SCS):
- SCA1 – Human Resources Management
- SCA2 – Supplies and Logistics Management
- SCA3 – Economic and Financial Management
- SCST – Technical Service
Health Directorate
The Health Structure is divided into Departments, which are responsible for coordinating the various scientific activities of the IZSVe, which are performed by Health Structures located at the IZSVe headquarters, Peripheral Health Structures distributed throughout North-Eastern Italy, and Specialist Centres.
Departments
- Department of Food Safety
This Department coordinates the analytical controls, specialistic services and research activites of the IZSVe for the food/feed production chain, monitoring and combating health risks associated with food consumption.
Director: Giovanni Farina
- Department of Experimental Veterinary Science and Animal Welfare
This Department coordinates the diagnostic and research activities of the IZSVe employing laboratory animals, guaranteeing their compliance with the provision of Italian and European laws in relation to animal welfare and ethical principles.
Director: Franco Mutinelli
- Department of Animal Pathology and Public Health
This Department coordinates the diagnostic services, the surveillance and research activities of the IZSVe, and the counseling provided to both public authorities and private professionals for the improvement of animal health and the preservation of public health.
Director: Fabrizio Agnoletti
- Department of Comparative Biomedical Sciences
This Department coordinates the diagnostic services, the surveillance plans and the research activities of the IZSVe related to viral diseases of animals and viral zoonoses.
Director: Calogero Terregino
- Department of Epidemiological Surveillance
This Department coordinates the surveillance and monitoring activities of the IZSVe in the fields of animal health, zoonoses and foodborne diseases.
Director: /
Health Structures (SCS)
- SCS0 – General Support Services
The SCS0 supports the functioning of all the other Health Structures with some specific services, e.g. centralized submission, biosafety management, growth medium production, customer service.
Director: Giandomenico Pozza
- SCS1 – Microbiology
The SCS1 performs microbiological analysis in the context of official controls and surveillance plans for food safety. It also conducts researches on method development and technological innovation in the context of microbiological food control.
Director: Lisa Barco
- SCS2 – Chemistry
- The SCS2 performs chemical analysis in the context of official controls and surveillance plans for food safety. It also conducts researches on method development and technological innovation in the context of chemical food control.
Director: Roberto Angeletti
- SCS3 – Diagnostic Services, Histopathology, Parasitology
The SCS3 performs specialist diagnostic services and surveillance activities on biological risks for animal and human health.
Director: Franco Mutinelli
- SCS4 – Epidemiology, Services and Research in Veterinary Public Health
The SCS4 provide epidemiological surveillance services, professional training and scientific research in the fields of animal health, animal welfare and zoonoses control..
Director: Grazia Manca
- SCS5 – Virology, Research and Innovation
The SCS5 is specialized in viral diseases, performing diagnostic services and conducting scientific research in the fields of animal health and zoonoses control.
Director: Calogero Terregino
- SCS6 – Experimental Virology
The SCS6 is specialized in viral diseases, performing diagnostic services and conducting scientific research in the fields of animal health and zoonoses control.
Director: Calogero Terregino (ad interim)
- SCS8 – Food Industry Enhancement
The SCS8 performs microbiological and chemical analysis to support food production companies and the enhancement of typical local products.
Director: Andrea Cereser (ad interim)
Peripheral Health Structures (SCT)
The IZSVe also features 6 Peripheral Health Structures in Northeast Italy, each of them equipped with different laboratories and services distributed in the area of competence. The peripheral health structures perform microbiological analysis, diagnostic services and official food controls. They also provide specific services for meeting the needs of local veterinary personnel and health authorities, and are a part of the IZSVe epidemiological surveillance network. The Peripheral Health Structures are:
- SCT1 – Verona
In addition to general activities, this Peripheral Health Structure is specialized in the poultry sector and the contrast of mycoplasmosis.
Director: Salvatore Catania
- SCT2 – Treviso, Belluno and Venezia
In addition to general activities, this Peripheral Health Structure is specialized in the rabbit-breeding, batteriology and wild animals sectors.
Director: Luca Bano
- SCT3 – Padova, Vicenza and Rovigo
In addition to general activities, this Peripheral Health Structure is specialized in the bovine sector and veterinary forensic medicine.
Director: Alda Natale
- SCT4 – Friuli Venezia Giulia
In addition to general activities, this Peripheral Health Structure is specialized in the swine sector.
Director: Fabrizio Agnoletti
- SCT5 – Trento
In addition to general activities, this Peripheral Health Structure is specialized in small ruminants.
Director: Farina Giovanni
- SCT6 – Bolzano
In addition to general activities, this Peripheral Health Structure is specialized in breeding within the alpine environment.
Director: Alexander Tavella
Specialist Centres
The Specialist Centres of the IZSVe functionally coordinate the activities of the various Health Structures and Peripheral Health Structures within specific veterinarian and zootechnical sectors.
Other offices and bodies
International cooperation
The International Cooperation Unit of the IZSVe plans and manages international cooperation projects which have research and development components through collaboration with the other IZSVe departments and Reference Laboratories / collaborating centres.
IZSVe Animal Welfare Body
The Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (IZSVe) has established an Animal Welfare Body, to transpose Directive 2010/63/EU (Decision of the Director General no. DDG 218 of 5 May, 2014) in accordance with art. 25 of Legislative Decree DLGS no. 26 dated 4 March, 2014.
The Animal Welfare Body has three members:
- the head of animal care and welfare;
- a veterinary physician (selected in accordance with art. 24 of Italian Legislative Decree DLGS no. 26/2914;
- a scientific expert from the Institute.
The Animal Welfare Body serves as an interface with researchers, from whom it receives study projects involving the use of animals. The Animal Welfare Body liaises with the Ethics Committee of IZSVe to evaluate these projects and provide the opinions needed to apply for authorization from the Ministry of Health. The Body has the task of interfacing with the Ministry and then with the researchers in relation to project approval.
Members
The Animal Welfare Body of IZSVe is formed by:
- Franco Mutinelli
Head of Animal Welfare
Director of the Department of Experimental Veterinary Sciences, IZSVe
- Massimo Boldrin
Designated veterinarian, specialist in laboratory animal science and medicine
- Alda Natale
Director of the SCT3 – Padova and Adria, IZSVe
- Anna Toffan
Head of the Fish Virology Laboratory (SCS6), IZSVe
Contacts
Maria Augusta Bozza
Secretariat of the Animal Welfare Body of IZSVe
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie
viale dell’Università 10, 35020 Legnaro (PD)
Tel.: +39 049 8084259
E-mail: organismopba@izsvenezie.it | PEC: izsvenezie@legalmail.it
IZSVe Ethics Committee
The IZSVe has had its own Ethics Committee since October 2007. Its goal is to appropriately implement the organization’s mission by responding to the need to guarantee animal welfare within an ethical and regulatory framework.
IZSVe’s Ethics Committee is an independent interdisciplinary body whose objective is to ethically assess study protocols and production procedures involving the use of animals for experimental purposes. The body also provides an advisory service to other requesting organizations on ethical matters in which the Institute has expertise. The Ethics Committee has the task of evaluating the methodology and implementation of studies or activities proposed by researchers in relation to the values of the Istituto Zooprofilattico delle Venezie, focusing specifically on criteria able to combine the specific needs of scientific research with the protection of animal welfare.
Other objectives pursued by the Ethics Committee include promoting ethics applied to sciences that use animals for experimental purposes, partly in collaboration with other research centres and institutions, and training research staff to acquire the necessary skills and professional qualifications, in accordance with the 3-R ethical approach (replacement, reduction, refinement).
Members
The Ethics Committee of IZSVe is composed of the following members:
- Vittorio Canova
Freelancer – Coroner
- Gioia Capelli
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie – Director of Science
- Laura Contalbrigo
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie – Expert in Animal Assisted Interventions
- Giulia De Benedictis
University of Padova – Expert in anesthesiological/surgical procedures
- Barbara De Mori
University of Padova – Expert in moral philosophy
- Francesco Grigoletto
Expert in biostatistics
- Matteo Mascia
Lanza Foundation – Expert in ethics and environmental policies
- Franco Mutinelli
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie – Expert in animal experimentation
- Renzo Pegoraro
Expert in bioethics
- Alberto Petrocelli
Freelancer – Expert in animal welfare of animals used in experimentation
- Giulia Mascarello
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie – Expert in training and communication
Contacts
Giulia Mascarello
Communication Unit
Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie
Viale dell’Università 10 – 35020 Legnaro (PD)
Tel.: +39 049 8084265-1504
E-mail: comitatoetico@izsvenezie.it
Organisational Plans & Policies
Contacts
Peripheral Structures
Veneto
