Published: 07 Jun 2019 | Last Updated: 10 Aug 2023 10:36:50

The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) and the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) have been jointly recognised as an OIE Collaborating Centre in Risk Analysis & Modelling.

The designation took place in Paris between 26-31 May 2019 at the 87th General Session of the World Assembly of National Delegates of the OIE, the intergovernmental organisation responsible for improving animal health worldwide.

OIE Collaborating Centres are centres of expertise in a specific designated sphere of competence relating to the management of general questions on animal health issues. Building on the global network of over 55 centres covering 49 topics, the new RVC and APHA Collaborating Centre will support the management of animal health issues internationally by providing expertise in Risk Analysis and Modelling for a fixed five-year term in the first instance.

As part of this, RVC and APHA will provide expert support and services to the OIE and the implementation of its policies, as well as developing various methods, procedures and studies in collaboration with other centres, laboratories and organisations. The Centre will utilise expertise from RVC’s Veterinary Epidemiology Economics and Public Health (VEEPH) group, as well as APHA’s Department of Epidemiological Sciences (DES) and elsewhere within the agency.

The nomination as a collaborating centre is a recognition of the ability, capacity and readiness of RVC and APHA to provide services, their scientific and technical expertise at both national and international levels, conformity with OIE and international standards, as well as technical and geographical relevance of their activities to OIE’s programme priorities.

Head of the Collaborating Centre and Principal of the RVC, Professor Stuart Reid CBE, said: “The RVC is delighted to contribute globally to the safeguarding of both animal and public health in collaboration with OIE.  This is a hugely important international collaborative effort and one of which we are proud to be part.”

Prof. Jonathan Elliott, Vice-Principal Research at the RVC, said: “We are honoured and excited that RVC has been selected for the Collaborating Centre for Risk Analysis & Modelling and are very privileged to be supporting such an important issue alongside an esteemed network of institutions.”

Dr Kath Webster, Director of Scientific Services at the APHA, said: “APHA has a long history of working with the OIE to promote animal and public health. We are delighted to be working with the RVC and fostering scientific collaborations internationally in this important area.”

Dr Emma Snary, Head of Epidemiological Sciences at the APHA, said: “We are very pleased that the expertise in risk analysis and modelling at APHA and RVC has been recognised by the OIE, and look forward to working with OIE members to protect the health of animals worldwide”.

Notes to Editors

For more information please contact:

• Alex Cassells (alexander.cassells@plmr.co.uk)  or Ploy Radford (ploy.radford@plmr.co.uk)
• Press Line: 0800 368 9520

About the RVC

• The Royal Veterinary College (RVC) is the UK's largest and longest established independent veterinary school and is a constituent College of the University of London.
• The RVC is ranked as the world’s number one veterinary school in the QS World University Rankings 2019.
• The RVC offers undergraduate, postgraduate and CPD programmes in veterinary medicine, veterinary nursing and biological sciences.
• The RVC was the first veterinary school in the world to hold full accreditation from AVMA, EAEVE, RCVS and AVBC, and currently holds full accreditation from RCVS, AVBC and AVMA and conditional from EAEVE.
• In 2017, the RVC received a Gold award from the Teaching Excellence Framework (TEF) – the highest rating a university can receive.
• A research-led institution, the RVC maintained its position as the top veterinary institution in the Research Excellence Framework (2014), with 79% of its submission being rated as world-class or internationally excellent.
• The RVC also provides animal owners and the veterinary profession with access to expert veterinary care and advice through its teaching hospitals: the Beaumont Sainsbury Animal Hospital, in central London, and the Queen Mother Hospital for Animals (Europe's largest small animal referral centre) and Equine Referral Hospital, both located at the Hertfordshire campus.

About Animal and Plant Health Agency

• The Animal and Plant Health Agency is an Executive Agency of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs working to safeguard animal and plant health for the benefit of people, the environment and the economy.
• APHA was launched on 1 October 2014. It merges the former Animal Health and Veterinary Laboratories Agency (AHVLA) with parts of the Food and Environment Research Agency (FERA) responsible for plant and bee health to create a single agency responsible for animal, plant and bee health.
• The Agency has an internationally recognised expertise on a wide range of diseases and multiple disciplines, including a strong national and international reference laboratory network in important animal zoonotic and non-zoonotic diseases.