The Univ. of Mass. Medical Center at Worcester supports programs in biomedical research, teaching and service. Research support has increased dramatically in recent years with over $30 million dollars in sponsored research awards received this fiscal year. The Department of Animal Medicine provides domicillary care and technical support, in an AAALAC-accredited program, for all laboratory animals used in educational and research programs. Deteriorating physical environmental controls and overall rodent health status however have prompted a re- evaluation of our total animal care and use program. Upgrading of both facets has been deemed necessary in order to meet the demands of an expanding animal research program with ever- increasing levels of sophistication. Objective of the projects proposed in this application is to enhance facilities and environment for the well-being of research animals, in particular rodents, which will further improve the quality of biomedical research efforts. The principal need in our conventional animal facilities is for more protective environments for disease- susceptible animals.
Specific aims of the proposal are to: 1. Convert a section of the centralized conventional rodent facilities to an 11 room barrier facility. 2. Acquire specialized small animal housing systems such as cubicles, ventilated racks, laminar airflow workbenches and microisolator housing units. These housing systems, coupled with appropriate animal care management programs, will serve as an additional level of microbiologic security for disease-prone animals. 3. Install an environmental monitoring and control system for the animal facilities. 4. Add protective wall surfacing to a swine housing room. 5. Install bumper guards in all corridors. These renovations and equipment purchase will assist an expanding institutional animal research effort, by providing researchers with an improved animal resource, healthier laboratory animal subjects and enhanced experimental reproducibility.
