Department of Veterinary Sciences: recipient of the excellence award for the five-year period 2018-2022
The Ministry of Education, Universities and Research (MIUR) published the list of the 180 Departments who are recipients of the Fondo di finanziamento quinquennale 2018-2022 (Five-year finance fund 2018-2022). The fund was awarded to Italian universities’ Departments of Excellence with the goal of further strengthening and highlighting excellence in research through investments in human resources, facilities and highly qualified teaching activities. The Department of Veterinary Sciences was among the top ten Departments of the University of Turin to be included in the list. Such results, achieved in collaboration with the Department of Agricultural, Forest and Food Sciences, place the AGROVET Complex of Grugliasco at the top position with regard to university research at the national level.
The “Uso consapevole del farmaco in Medicina Veterinaria” (Increasing awareness for proper use of drugs in veterinary medicine) Project
A misuse or abuse of veterinary drugs may cause medium to long term effects, with possible negative impacts on animal and human health. At the tip of the iceberg is antimicrobial resistance, that is the ability of a microorganism to resist the action of an antimicrobial agent. As this happens very rapidly, developing new drugs cannot be regarded as the only solution to tackle this phenomenon. Among the causes of antimicrobial resistance is the misuse of drugs among companion animals and animals intended for human consumption. Both categories are exposed to quantities that are more than double compared to human consumption and are, therefore, an important reserve of antimicrobial resistance genes. Such a complex and multifactorial phenomenon calls for a multidisciplinary approach that the Department of Veterinary Sciences will implement by focusing on three different aspects:
- Study of social and behavioural factors related to the use of drugs and antimicrobial resistance;
- Improvement of drug use monitoring systems;
- Application of multidisciplinary approaches through the One-Health concept to study and find a solution for the phenomenon by using rationally, reducing or replacing drugs.