December 6, 2019 marked the official launch of the platform “Vet-OncoNet”(Veterinary Oncology Network), a network created by the Instituto de Ciências Biomédicas Abel Salazar (ICBAS) and the Instituto de Saúde Pública da Universidade do Porto (ISPUP), with the objective of gathering information about neoplasms present in pet animals and create a national animal oncology registry platform.
Around 70 people, including veterinarians, researchers, teachers, students, representatives of the Direção-Geral de Alimentação e Veterinária (DGAV), the Sindicato dos Médicos Veterinários, of the main pharmaceutical companies and the veterinary sector, were present at the Salão Nobre do ICBAS for the kick-off of this platform, which will understand the frequency and distribution of tumours in animals, in Portugal, and study the main risk factors for neoplasms in companion animals.
The Director of ICBAS, Henrique Cyrne de Carvalho, together with João Niza Ribeiro, member of the ISPUP direction and one of the coordinators of this platform, and also Emídio Gomes, from the Universidade de Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro (UTAD), one of the partner institutions, opened the ceremony and signed a memorandum of understanding between all parties.
João Niza Ribeiro and Katia Pinello, ISPUP researchers and ICBAS teachers, presented the “Vet-OncoNet” network, explaining the operating mechanism of the platform and its potential for animal, human and environmental health, as part of the “One Health” concept.
The following speeches focused on the connection of the “Vet-OncoNet” platform with Human Medicine, Pathology, Veterinary Clinical Practice and the Pharmaceutical area, and were given by the speakers Rui Henrique, from IPO-Porto, Pedro Faísca, from the Sociedade Portuguesa de Patologia Veterinária, Felisbina Queiroga, from UTAD, and Jorge Gonçalves, from the Faculdade de Farmácia da Universidade do Porto, respectively.
Finaly, Alan Radford, from the Liverpool University, presented the Small Animal Veterinary Surveillance Network (SAVSNET), a network for the active collection of data from different vectors, which may become a future partner of the Portuguese platform, in the field of oncology.
For João Niza Ribeiro, “the launch session marks the beginning of a journey that, he hopes, will contribute to bring together and energise the efforts of scientists, specialists, veterinary clinicians and society towards veterinary oncology, allowing the production of relevant knowledge for the prevention and treatment of animal oncology and human health”.
With the platform officially launched, it is now possible for all stakeholders – veterinarians, animal owners and diagnostic laboratories – to submit information on the “Vet-OncoNet” website .
For further information, please contact: info@vetonconet.pt.
