Rodent Facility

The NOVA Medical School's Rodent Facility is a dedicated infrastructure for the breeding, housing, and use of rodents (rats and mice) for scientific purposes. It provides a controlled environment that ensures the sanitary conditions necessary for biomedical research complying with international standards to support high-quality and reproducible research.

 

Infrastructure & Continuous Development

Located in an independent two-story building, the facility comprises:

  • Ground Floor (Barrier SPF – ABSL2): A Specific Pathogen-Free (SPF) area dedicated to breeding, housing, and experimentation under bioexclusion and biocontainment conditions (ABSL2).
  • First Floor (Conventional Housing & Experimentation): Designed for standard housing and experimental procedures outside the barrier system.

In 2021, the facility underwent major renovations through CONGENTO funding (LISBOA2030-FEDER-01317200), significantly upgrading the ground floor’s capacity for housing and experimentation. Recently, it secured additional competitive funding (HubP2C - LISBOA2030-2024-15) to ensure ongoing modernization and compliance with the highest standards as a pre-clinical center of Excellence in Translational Research.

 

Equipment & Housing Systems

The facility features advanced air conditioning and HEPA filtration systems, maintaining ISO 7 & 8 air quality in the Barrier Floor to minimize stress, prevent contamination, and ensure data reliability.

The environmental conditions are controlled, maintaining a temperature of 22°C ± 2°C and a relative humidity of 55% ± 15%, ensuring optimal conditions for animal welfare and research consistency. The standard/default diurnal light cycle is 12-hr light: 12-hr dark with the lights being ON during the daytime (lights are set to turn ON at 7.00h/8.00h and turn OFF at 19h-20h).

  • Ground Floor Housing: Utilizes mostly Individually Ventilated Cages (IVCs) for mice, providing optimal biocontainment and environmental control.
  • First Floor Housing: Uses conventional cages for rats and mice, operating outside the barrier system.

 

Commitment to Animal Welfare & Ethics

The NOVA Medical School's Rodent Facility prioritizes animal welfare, ensuring animals are housed in enriched environments that support natural behaviors. The facility adheres to national (Decree-Law No. 113/2017) and European (Directive No. 63/2010/EU) regulations, with all research projects undergoing rigorous animal welfare, ethical and biosafety evaluation before approval. Approval from the competent authority is required before any project can proceed. Additionally, it is ensured that all personnel handling animals and researchers conducting studies receive the necessary training, knowledge, and authorization to design and perform experimental procedures.

The facility's care staff continuously monitor the health and well-being of the animals, ensuring compliance with the guidelines established by the Animal Welfare Body (ORBEA) and DGAV regulations.

NOVA Medical School strictly follows the 3Rs principles (Reduction, Refinement, and Replacement), minimizing animal use, enhancing research methods to reduce distress, and promoting alternatives whenever possible. As a signatory of the Transparency Agreement on Animal Research in Portugal, NOVA Medical School upholds its commitment to ethical and responsible scientific practices.

EQUIPMENTS

Barrier Floor & Experimental Floor

The Barrier Floor includes a dedicated production area, six housing rooms, and two experimental rooms. The Conventional Experimental Floor features two housing rooms for rats and mice, five experimental rooms, a surgical suite, two soundproof rooms equipped with video recording systems for animal behavior studies, and common equipment rooms with chemical fume hoods.

Equipment & Shared Resources

The Rodent Facility is equipped with dedicated and shared resources available for animal experimentation studies, including:

  • Biosafety cabinets, and changing stations with laminar flow
  • Fume hoods
  • In vivo imaging systems (IVIS_Newton 7)
  • Stereoscopes and microscopes
  • Hypoxia/hyperoxia equipment
  • Plethysmograph
  • Faraday cages
  • Racks and housing for metabolic studies
  • Equipment for behavioral studies
  • Anesthesia and stereotaxic surgery systems
  • Cold storage equipment, including -80°C freezers for sample storage, an ice machine, and liquid nitrogen availability.

Additionally, the facility includes advanced infrastructure for the maintenance, decontamination, and sterilization of materials, such as:

  • Two horizontal barrier autoclaves
  • Industrial cage-washing machines
  • Bottle filling equipment
  • Laminar flow Bedding Disposal Station
  • Hydrogen peroxide vapor decontamination room
  • Euthanasia equipment
  • Reverse osmosis water treatment station and water distiller

 

SERVICES

The Rodent Facility provides an in-house small rodent production service for internal use.

Currently, the facility has a maximum housing capacity of 750 cages for mice and approximately 570 cages for rats.

The facility also includes specialized housing rooms designed for immunocompromised mice and inverted light cycle studies (Reverse light cycle (lights are OFF during the daytime at 9.30h and ON during the night at 21.30h), ensuring optimal conditions for these specific research needs. 

Biosafety & Compliance

The Rodent Facility operates at ABSL1 and ABSL2 biosafety levels, ensuring a controlled and secure environment. Animals housed within the facility cannot be experimentally infected with pathogenic or zoonotic agents, maintaining strict sanitary conditions for biomedical research.

The entrance to the Rodent Facility is restricted to authorized personnel and monitored by a controlled access system.

To request access, users must send an email to: rodent.facility@nms.unl.pt.

 

Working in the Rodent Facility

  • Procedures may only be performed by DGAV-accredited users who have been registered with the Animal Welfare Body (ORBEA) as part of the research team.
  • Independent access and unsupervised work are only permitted after proper training and competency assessment.
  • New DGAV-credited users must be supervised by a qualified Research Team supervisor, who is capable of performing the procedures and must be present in the room.
  • Handling of animals is strictly prohibited without appropriate Personal Protective Equipment (PPE).
  • Eating or drinking is strictly prohibited.
  • Handwashing is mandatory before leaving the facility.

 

Access Rules - check here the Fluoxorama of the Acess Rules

  • Admission and authorization to the unit are granted only after a facility induction tour.
  • Personal Access Card Credentials: Two types exist—one for Barrier Zone Entry and another for the Conventional First Floor
  • Visitors: Prior authorization is required. All visitors must complete Rodent Facility Registration before entry.

 

Access Rules – Ground Floor Barrier Area (SPF)

Access is only permitted if, within the last:

  • 72 hours: No contact with rodents outside the facility (including reptiles fed on rodents).
  • 24 hours: No entry into a unit with a lower barrier status (First Floor – Experimental Floor).

Facility Manager

Sara Marques
Rodent Animal Facility Manager

Team

Daniel Cruz
Caretaker
Maísa Melo
Caretaker
Carine Santos
Caretaker