The Animal Core provides services to all four projects, since each project proposes to utilize mice as experimental models. Dr. Kylie Kavanagh, Core Leader, will oversee the duties of this core to assure that all needed animal care is made readily available to each project. All aspects of surgery, postsurgical care and animal husbandry will be coordinated through Dr. Kavanagh with the staff of the specific project involved and assistance by Paul Sikoski, DVM, Director of the Animal Facility in BRF-1, and Dr. Jan Wagner, DVM Director of the WFUHS Animal Resources Program. Several post-DVM fellows as well as three veterinary technicians will assist the veterinarians in care of program project animals. Surgical protocols have been utilized successfully during the last five year program project cycle after being generated with the input of Dr. Rudel and veterinary staff and needed oversight is through their collaborative efforts. In addition to surgery, technical services provided by the core staff will include blood collection, routine health measurements including regular body weight measurements, quantitative fecal collections when required, and oversight of all breeding activities and housing needs in collaboration with the animal care staff. A technician familiar with the experimental protocols related to each project has been assigned by project, and this technical staff member will be responsible for the specific duties for that project. This group of technicians will benefit from interacting with Dr. Kavanagh and with other experienced staff members to make the husbandry aspects of the entire program project more efficient. In many cases, the diets to be fed to the mice are made especially for the individual project, and the technical staff of the core will provide the liason function between the project, the diet kitchen, and the Diet Analysis laboratory that provides quality control assays, assuring timely delivery of diet.
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