The animal module of the Core grant serves NIH and non-NlH funded Investigators at Wilmer in gaining permission to the use the Wilmer/Woods Animal Colony and animal ORs in the Wilmer/Woods Animal Colony, learning proper handling and anesthesia for animals, writing animal protocols, performing quality animal surgeries and post-operative care, and imaging the animals in the course ofthe experiments. (NEI R01 funded labs are given priority in all these activities.) Core equipment includes two ceiling hung Zeiss operating microscopes that hang from flotation devices in HEPA filtered surgical suites. One of the microscopes is equipped for recording video of the surgeries. There is an animal vital sign monitoring device that records blood pressure, heart beat and tissue oxygen. There is a Harvard micro-injector that is used in many of the surgeries. The imaging suite includes a LKC BigShot Color LED Ganzfeld Stimulator, a Bioptigen SDOCT, and a Micron III imaging system. Additional equipment includes slit lamp cameras and Zeiss fundus cameras. Imran Bhutto, M.D., Ph.D., the key person in this module, expends 24% of his effort in maintaining the ORs and imaging equipment and in training personnel. He is a skilled vitreo-retinal surgeon with a PhD. In pathology. He supervises the Wilmer/Woods Animal Colony's animal operating rooms, the imaging room, the surgical preparation areas, as well as the digital calendar used to schedule these rooms. Dr. Bhutto signs off on all personnel receiving approval to enter the colony and secondarily to enter and work in the OR's. He oversees the quality of care in the colony and, as administrator, reprimands investigators not using the colony and its specialty rooms properly. Training by Dr. Bhutto on the proper utilization of the ceiling hung Zeiss operating microscopes as well as the large animal anesthesia machines and the micro-injector is required before any investigator is permitted to use them. Dr. Bhutto is available to train Investigators in ocular surgery techniques such as anesthesia, intravitreal injection, subretinal injection, and postoperative care. He is also available to assist new investigators in writing animal protocols and submission to the ACUC. Dr. Bhutto does not manage the breeding or care of the animals, as this is the purview of the Hopkins Division of Comparative Medicine. They provide care and veterinarians for all of the animals in the colony. They assist Investigators in breeding animals and making investigators aware of ill animals or improper caging. Dr. Bhutto serves as a liaison between the Division of Comparative Medicine and our investigators.
Showing the most recent 10 out of 851 publications
