The Veterinary Resources Support Facility is operated out of the Department of Veterinary Sciences, a component of the M.D. Anderson Science Park. This CCSG-support CORE facility provides a cost-effective, Cancer Center-wide Rodent Serology Program that supports the health of rodent research colonies and the operation of SPF facilities throughout the institution, where utilization approaches 100,000 rodents per year. At the Science Park campus, serology and other forms of health and genetic assessment comprise the Rodent Health and Genetic Quality Assurance Program, integral to maintenance of 14,500 SPF rodents and the numerous inbred and transgenic breeding production colonies maintained at that campus. These programs provide animal health information that is vital to the utilization of defined animal models that are free of intercurrent disease or silent infections. These goals are particularly critical for complex cancer models in areas such as carcinogenesis, chemoprevention, and gene-, immuno-, biological-, and radio-therapy. The Veterinary Resources Support Facility also provides a clinical veterinarian (65%) that oversees the rodent facilities at both Science Park campuses, provides specialized research services, managed breeding production colonies, and assists MDACC investigators with custom polyclonal antisera production (cost recovered). We are requesting new funds to provide investigators with assistance in transgenic breeding management and PCR sample collection as part of the services of producing transgenic animals. An electronic communique for institutional transgenic users and mechanisms for re-deriving imported transgenics harboring pathogens will also be established.
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