FACULDADE DE MEDICINA VETERINARIA

Their core work

The Faculty of Veterinary Medicine (Lisbon) is a Portuguese higher education institution specializing in animal genetics, genomics, and livestock disease control. Their H2020 work centers on two pillars: improving livestock breeding through genomic and epigenomic tools, and developing vaccines and diagnostic strategies for major animal diseases like African Swine Fever. They bring veterinary science expertise to large European consortia focused on sustainable animal production and disease eradication.

What they specialise in

How they've shifted over time

Their early H2020 work (2016-2019) focused on classical animal genetics — managing genetic resources (IMAGE) and identifying bovine genomic features through bioinformatics and quantitative genetics (BovReg). From 2019 onward, their portfolio expanded in two directions: urgent disease control (the large VACDIVA project on African Swine Fever) and frontier breeding science incorporating epigenetics and non-genetic inheritance (GEroNIMO). This shift suggests a faculty moving from foundational genomics toward applied veterinary challenges with direct policy and industry relevance.

They are moving toward high-impact applied veterinary research — disease eradication tools and next-generation breeding that incorporates epigenetic mechanisms — making them increasingly relevant for animal health and precision livestock partnerships.

How they like to work

They participate exclusively as partners, never as coordinators, which positions them as a reliable specialist contributor that brings veterinary and genomics expertise to consortia led by others. With 95 unique partners across 31 countries from just 5 projects, they work in large, geographically diverse consortia. This broad network suggests they are well-connected and trusted within the European animal science community, though they rely on others for project leadership.

Despite only 5 projects, they have collaborated with 95 unique partners across 31 countries — an exceptionally broad network driven by participation in large multi-partner consortia. Their reach spans well beyond Southern Europe into a truly pan-European collaboration footprint.

What sets them apart

They combine veterinary medicine with deep genomics expertise — a relatively rare intersection that lets them bridge animal health (disease vaccines, diagnostics) and animal breeding (genomic selection, epigenetics) within the same faculty. Their involvement in both the VACDIVA vaccine project and multiple breeding-genomics projects means they can address the full chain from disease resilience to genetic improvement. For a Portuguese institution, their 31-country collaboration reach is notably extensive.

Highlights from their portfolio

• VACDIVA
  Their largest project by far (EUR 754K of EUR 1.27M total funding), addressing the critical and politically urgent challenge of African Swine Fever eradication through DIVA vaccine development.
• GEroNIMO
  Their most recent project (2021-2026) pushing into epigenetics and non-genetic inheritance for livestock breeding — signals their future research direction.
• BovReg
  Combines bioinformatics, quantitative genetics, and bovine genomic feature identification — demonstrates their computational biology capabilities alongside animal science.