AWO-N About us
History
The AWO-N was founded in 2013 to exchange knowledge about the 3Rs and animal welfare within the scientific community in Switzerland. Members of the network are animal welfare officers (AWOs) working in academia or industry. The network combines expertise in a broad range of fields including veterinary medicine, laboratory animal science, behavioural biology and zoology.
The SGV helped to initiate our network and supports the AWO-N with travel money allowing the members to attend our regular AWO-N meetings.
In October 2013 the AWO-N was accepted by the Federal Food Safety and Veterinary Office (FSVO) as an expert group in the field of animal welfare and laboratory animal science. Since then, the AWO-N is actively involved in working on guidelines and revisions of the Swiss Animal Welfare legislation.
In 2015 a working group defined the purpose and framework of the AWO-N and put together a draft for the constitution of the Swiss AWO-N. The first constitution was approved unanimously at the Swiss AWO-N meeting on September 7th, 2015. Since then several adaptation to the constitution were made.
Frequent agenda items during our meetings are discussions about local regulations in the different cantons regarding animal experimentation and housing. Furthermore the exchange of knowledge and experiences, best practice procedures, as well as updates from the SAFN (Swiss Animal Facility Network) and the 3RCC (Swiss 3R Competence Centre) are frequently discussed.
The chair and co-chair have regular meetings with the head of the FSVO division “Tierversuche und Auswertungen”.
Since 2022 the AWO-N is member of STAAR (Swiss Transparency Agreement on Animal Research).
Members:
The listed persons are members of the network and represent their respective institutions. The listed institutions themselves are not members of the network.
| Name | Institution | Animal Welfare Pages |
|---|---|---|
| Andrina Zbinden | University of Fribourg | Uni Fribourg Animal Welfare |
| Anne Zintzsch | University of Basel | |
| Antoine Poskin | F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG Basel | Animal Research at Roche |
| Birgit Heller-Stilb | FMI Basel | |
| Björn Lex | F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG Basel | Animal Research at Roche |
| Catherine Schoeffel | Novartis Pharma AG Basel | Novartis Animal Research |
| Christelle Cadilhac | Swiss Education Network, RESAL | |
| Charaf Benarafa | Institute of Virology and Immunology IVI | |
| Chiara Pivetta | Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel | |
| Claire Mader | Uni Lausanne - CHUV | |
| Corina Berset | University of Zurich | |
| Daniel Arens | AO Research Institute Davos | AO Foundation Guiding Principles Humane Care and Use of Animals in Research and Education |
| Daniela Krings | NBE Therapeutics | |
| Denisa Dan | INFORAMA | |
| Elsa Giobellina | University of Geneva | |
| Fabienne Chabaud | University of Bern | |
| Gisèle Ferrand | FMI Basel | |
| Gordana Panic | Swiss Tropical and Public Health Institute, Basel | |
| Isabelle Barde | EPFL | EPFL Research with Animals |
| Isabelle Desbaillets | University of Bern | |
| Isabelle Gangnat | Berner Fachhochschule Hochschule für Agrar-, Forst- und Lebensmittelwissenschaften | Fish Welfare |
| Janina Thoele | Novartis Pharma AG Basel | Novartis Animal Research |
| Janine Hussner | University of Basel | Animal Research at the University of Basel |
| Jasmin Frey | ETH Zurich | ETH Zurich Animal Experiments |
| Julie Bolcaen | Paul Scherrer Institute | |
| Julie Parchet-Piccand | EPFL | EPFL Research with Animals |
| Karina Drumm | Institute of Molecular and Clinical Ophthalmology Basel | |
| Kurt Zbinden | Independent consultant | |
| Laetitia Baud | Campus Biotech Geneva | |
| Laura Schröder | F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG Basel | |
| Laure Seriot | University of Lausanne | |
| Lena Gens | AO Research Institute Davos | AO Foundation Guiding Principles Humane Care and Use of Animals in Research and Education |
| Magdalena Diaz Ovalle | F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG Basel | Animal Research at Roche |
| Magdalena Keller | Agrovet Strickhof | |
| Maike Heimann | Swiss Education Network | Institute of Laboratory Animal Science - Teaching and Training |
| Maike Heuel | Agrovet Strickhof | |
| Marc Iglarz | Idorsia Pharmaceuticals | |
| Marcel Krüger | University of Basel | Animal Research at the University of Basel |
| Melania Osto | Institute for Research in Biomedicine Bellinzona | |
| Michaela Thallmair | University of Zurich | UZH Animal Welfare and 3Rs |
| Nicolas Ruggli | Institute of Virology and Immunology IVI | |
| Nicole Egli | Anaveon | |
| Nicole Wildner | University of Zurich | UZH Animal Welfare and 3Rs |
| Nicole Stolte-Leeb | University of Basel | Animal Research at the University of Basel |
| Olga Wellnitz | Agroscope Posieux | |
| Quentin Barraud | Campus Biotech Geneva | Preclinical Neuroscience Platform (PNP) |
| Samia Bachmann | ETH Zurich | ETH Zurich Animal Experiments |
| Stefan Mitrea | University of Bern | |
| Stefanie Hiltbrunner | ETH Zurich | |
| Valentina Mercaldo | University of Lausanne - CHUV | |
| Kerstin Broich | permament guest representing SAFN | SAFN (Swiss Animal Facilities Network) |