Analysis on animal ethics knowledge among graduation students working with pre-clinical research

• Grant number: 16/26167-7
• Support Opportunities: Scholarships in Brazil - Scientific Initiation
• Start date: July 01, 2017
• End date: June 30, 2018
• Field of knowledge: Interdisciplinary Subjects
• Principal Investigator: Monica Levy Andersen
• Grantee: Nicole Dittrich Hosni
• Host Institution: Escola Paulista de Medicina (EPM). Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP). Campus São Paulo. São Paulo , SP, Brazil

Abstract

In 2008, the Law no. 11.794/2008 was established to regulate the use of vertebrate animals in scientific and didatic activities in national territory. This project aims to evaluate the knowledge about and adherence to this law among students and advisors in UNIFESP, with the main objective of demonstrating the necessity of greater awareness around those regulations inside the university environment. To accomplish this research, the students will receive questionnaires based on articles of the Law no. 11.794/2008 associated to their daily routine in UNIFESP (São Paulo campus), with the intent to assess the students knowledge about the theme. The questionnaires will be available online to medicine and biomedicine graduation students. It is expected that the possible poor performance by the majority of the participants can be reversed with interventions, such as reading specialized literature and obligatory lectures before the animal manipulation, or even regular classes to the students. The results, combined with the fact that few scientific studies about Brazilian animal ethics were found, denotes a society with a lack of knowledge about those information. Therefore, in view of the fact that UNIFESP is a highly reputed research center, a national panorama of the legislation in animal ethics can be inferred by the results. (AU)