Precise phenotyping depends significantly on the quality of animal subjects. Stable housing and husbandry minimize the influence of exogenous factors that could distort phenotyping results. Additionally, mice submitted to the UMass MMPC share space with cohorts from microbiologically diverse sources. They, as well as mice housed in resident colonies, must be protected against potential cross-infection by adventitious agents. The Animal Core operates under the supervision of Dr. Jerald Silverman as the Core Director, who oversees the animal care facility of UMass Medical School. The Humanized Mouse Cell Transplantation and Assessment sub-Core is directed by Dr. Dale Greiner who will offer the humanized mice and elegant techniques to assess in vivo function of transplanted human islets and stem cell-derived ?-cells in immunodeficient mice. The sub-Core will perform standardized assessment procedures that will provide quantifiable metrics for the transplanted human islets or stem cell-derived ?-cells. The Animal Core provides facilities and services relevant to these priorities under the following specific aims: (1) to provide stable, biocontainment housing, husbandry and health care for mice (2) to provide a dedicated animal facility for housing (AS2-1043 and 1042) and on-site phenotyping procedures (AS2-1043A) with additional phenotyping instruments, (3) to assess the microbiological profile of each cohort and provides the Center Director with interpretation and advice regarding the results, and (4) to provide to the users of the phenotyping service, at the discretion of the Center Director, results and advice on the health status of submitted mice. The goal of the Animal Core is to support the operation of UMass MMPC with issues pertinent to animal care and quality of phenotyping mice.
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