The Veterinary Health and Care Program(VHCP), DIR, NIDCD, is located in an NIH leased facility owned by Alexandria Real Estate Equities at 5 Research Court, Rockville, Maryland, and is approximately 12 miles north of the main NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. This facility is considered an extension of the NIH and adheres to the same standards as government owned NIH facilities. The Veterinary Health and Care Program's Vision Statement: VHCP will be the most customer oriented research support facility in NIH;providing a high level of excellence in animal care, husbandry and technical support that will enhance research investigations and the overall NIH mission. The VHCP facility is located entirely on the first floor of the 5RC building and comprises 15,776 sq ft2 including corridors. The facility is comprised of eleven animal holding rooms and support areas that include receiving, food storage, aseptic surgery, radiography/fluoroscopy, bedding storage, cage wash, clean cage storage, a laboratory for diagnosis of laboratory animal diseases, animal procedure areas, shower/lockers, break area, administrative space, and supply storage. The facility is managed as a specific pathogen free facility and at any one time can house NIDCD mice, rats, rabbits, chinchillas, and guinea pigs. The VHCP operates with budgets of $230K for governmental employee salary/benefits, $440K for equipment/supplies, and $940K for a contract with Charles Rivers Laboratories to provide animal husbandry, veterinary care, and a significant amount of research technical support for NIDCD principal investigators and their associates. James A. McGehee, DVM, MS, is a full time government employee and is the current NIDCD AHCS Director and contract Project Officer providing oversight. During FY 2009, the AHCS supported the following principal investigators: Dr. Stephan Brenowitz Dr. Matthew Kelley Dr. Richard Chadwick Dr. Thomas Friedman Dr. Konrad Noben-Trauth Dr. Andrew Griffith Dr. Xing-xing Gu Dr. Robert Wenthold Dr. Kuni Iwasa Dr. Doris Wu Dr. Bechara Kachar NIDCD FY 2009 Average Daily Cage Count Per Species: Mice 2,400 cages; Rats 1 cage;Rabbits 8 cages;Chinchillas 0 cages;and Guinea Pigs 1 cage
