Farina Luca

	Role and Department	Veterinarian – SCT1 – Verona and Vicenza Director – National Reference Centre for Animal Assisted Interventions (Pet Therapy)
	Phone	+39 049 8084281
	E-mail	lfarina@izsvenezie.it

Professional profile

Luca Farina is, since 2013, Director of the Italian National Reference Centre for Animal Assisted Interventions, established by the Ministry of Health in 2009. He graduated in Veterinary Medicine (Milan, 1983) and studied at the Institute of Tropical Medicine in Antwerp (Belgium), where he was awarded a diploma in Tropical Veterinary Medicine (1986) and a M.Sc. in Tropical Animal Production (1987). In 1996, he specialized in Animal Health, Breeding and Livestock Production at the University of Bologna.

Most of his professional career has been spent outside Italy. Three years of international aid work in Burundi were followed by three years at the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO) in Togo and at the Headquarters in Rome. After returning to Italy in 1990, he began his professional experience with the Istituto Zooprofilattico Sperimentale delle Venezie (IZSVe, a public health institute part of the Italian National Health Scheme), becoming involved in environmental hygiene, veterinary epidemiology, serology, training and cooperation.

In 1999, he was selected by the European Commission as Principal Administrator at DG SANCO’s Food and Veterinary Office in Dublin, where he remained until 2007. From 2007 to 2013, he was recruited at the European Free Trade Association (EFTA) Surveillance Authority as a senior officer, based in Brussels. In June 2013 he finally returned to the IZSVe and was appointed as Director of the Italian National Reference Centre for Animal Assisted Interventions.

His areas of interest are associated with animal assisted therapy and veterinary aspects of bioethics, animal welfare and animal behavior. He liaises with human physicians and international organizations; he is involved in the training of multidisciplinary team members and in designing animal assisted interventions.

He participates to national and international conferences on AAI.

Publications

• Farina, L. (2018), Préface. In La médiation équine: Qu’en pensent les scientifiques? (pp. 5-6). Institut Français du Cheval et de l’Equitation (Ed.)
• Simonato, M., De Santis, M., Contalbrigo, L., Benedetti, D., Finocchi Mahne, E., Santucci, V. U., Borrello, S., & Farina, L. (2018). The Italian Agreement between the Government and the Regional Authorities: National Guidelines for AAI and Institutional Context. People and Animals: The International Journal of Research and Practice, 1(1), 1-11
• Farina, L., Artale, S., Cerino, S., Finocchi Mahne, E., Benedetti, D., & Santucci, V.U. (2018). Il Tavolo di lavoro sulla riabilitazione equestre istituito presso il Ministero della Salute: considerazioni e prospettive. In Fondazione Iniziative Zooprofilattiche e Zootecniche – Brescia (Ed.), Quaderno 106 – Riabilitazione equestre: relazione e progettualità, Atti del convegno del 22 marzo 2018, Brescia (pp. 53-61). Brescia: Fondazione Iniziative Zooprofilattiche e Zootecniche – Brescia
• Farina L, De Santis M, Contalbrigo L, Simonato M, Sanguin I (a cura di) (2017). “Interventi assistiti con gli animali. Relazione è salute”. IZSVe, Appunti di scienza n. 13, II edizione: ottobre 2017
• Pinto A, De Santis M, Moretti C, Farina L, Ravarotto L (2017). “Medical practitioners’ attitudes towards animal assisted interventions. An Italian survey”. Complementary Therapies in Medicine, 33: 20-26
• Contalbrigo L, De Santis M, Toson M, Montanaro M, Farina L, Costa A, Nava FA (2017).“The efficacy of dog assisted therapy in detained drug users: an unmatched case-control study in an Italian attenuated custody institute”. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, 14(7): 683
• De Santis M, Contalbrigo L, Borgi M, Cirulli F, Luzi F, Redaelli V, Stefani A, Toson M, Odore R, Vercelli C, Valle E, Farina L (2017). Review: Equine Assisted Interventions (EAIs): Methodological Considerations for Stress Assessment in Horses. Veterinary Sciences, 4: 44
• Luca Farina, Marta De Santis, Laura Contalbrigo, Martina Simonato, Barbara De Mori, Licia Ravarotto (2016). The 3R principle: a reflection on its application in AAI. Proceedings of the 14th triennial IAHAIO International Conference-Paris, 11-13 July 2016. Page 176. Best poster Award
• Farina L., Contalbrigo L. and De Santis M. (2015) Animal Assisted Interventions: the Italian reality and the role of the National reference centre established by the Ministry of Health. Plenary presentation at the 3rd Symposium on Animal-Assisted Activity, Therapy and Education – III SINTAA, Rio de Janeiro 7-9 October 2015
• Farina L. & Moretti C. (2014) Healthcare and animal assisted interventions: the Italian approach. Plenary presentation at the IAHAIO annual symposium “Bridging Cultural and Disciplinary Boundaries in Human-Animal Interactions, Amsterdam 24-26 July 2014, Acts page 8-9.