The Animal Core is designed to: 1) provide optimum care and maintenance of all animals used in the PPG; 2) provide assistance in all surgical procedures required in the PPG; 3) provide support for and supervision of the step training and robotic testing of spinal transected rats (Projects II and III), spinally injured mice (Project IV) and the electro-mechanical stimulation of the muscles in spinal cord isolated rats (Project I); and 4) maintain an updated database on the health status of the rats and post-mortem tissue distribution. These activities are very demanding with respect to the expertise required and the level of coordination necessary among the Principal Investigators, Animal Health Technician and Division of Laboratory Animal Medicine (DLAM). The amount of care and time required and the skill that is essential in maintaining optimum health of spinal cord isolated and spinal cord transected rats is also quite demanding. Care and treatment nterventions must be uniform and consistent and the general health of the animal must be maintained at the highest level. It is critical to maintain the high quality of care for spinal cord injured animals that we have developed over the years. This experience and the cooperative efforts between Dr. R.R. Roy, the PI of this Core, Mr. M. Herrera, the Animal Health Technician responsible for the day-to-day animal care, and DLAM, has proven to be extremely effective and must be maintained to assure the success of Projects I, II, III, and IV. The Core personnel also will assure that all individuals that work directly with the animals, to include graduate and undergraduate students, are properly trained and supervised in animal care procedures. The robotic testing of the behavioral capabilities of the spinal transected rats is a unique and crucial element for the success of Projects II, III and IV. Dr. D. Reinkensmeyer (UCI) will coordinate the development and building of the robotic systems and Ms. R. Molyneux will supervise and assist in all aspects of the robotic-related studies at UCLA. An animal core is the best mechanism to accomplish these objectives. With an individual R-01 Grant it would be difficult to provide the quantity of personnel necessary with the required skill level to study spinal cord injured animals.
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