Small Animal Imaging Research Program for Infectious Disease (SAIRPID). The Scientific Core for Animal Modeling will also coordinate access to the SAIRPID at the Saban Research Institute/USC, which is directed by Vishal Saxena, PhD. The SAIRPID has 4 basic goals: 1) to provide a core service to the RCE research community, 2) to advance imaging techniques through the development of new small animal imaging techniques, the improvement of existing instruments, the development of new contrast agents and 3) provide opportunities for women, minority and young investigators to use these facilities through collaboration with relevant personnel and pilot studies and 4) educating the research community and training investigators and technologists in all aspects of small animal imaging. The SAIRPID was developed by the Radiology Department at the Children's Hospital of Los Angeles/USC and is set up to operate as a mirror image of the clinical department. As a result, the imaging center operates in a coordinated effort with the radiologists (and radiology residents in training) becoming involved in the small animal imaging projects as partners with the research investigators. All of the imaging studies need to be interpreted and need the expertise of a radiologist to identify artifacts of the techniques from real findings. Just like a functioning clinical service, the researchers need the results from the studies in a timely fashion. The resource will operate as a division of the Department of Radiology with similar policies and procedures in place for the daily operation of the center, the quality control of the instruments and imaging studies, infection control, the reporting of the imaging study results, the storage and retrieval of the image data, and the handling of the charges for the imaging studies. The Saban Research Institute will support this effort by allocating space, providing access to, and assisting in the acquisition of imaging instruments, including a Bruker 7 Tesla Pharmascan MR system, an ImTek microCT system, Xenogen multiview bioluminescent/fluorescence imaging system, indigenously developed optical imaging system, Faxitron high resolution x-ray system, Siemens gamma camera, Acuson real-time/Doppler ultrasound and a Gamma-Medica microCT/SPECT system. The imaging facility (12,000 sq ft) is a space unto itself, being built on a separate concrete slab to minimize vibration and isolated from the animal care facility on the same level to minimize the risk of contamination. The small animal facility is a BSL 2+ operational containment facility. There is one entrance into the facility from the exterior hallway, outside the limits of the vivarium. There are two sterile pass boxes into the facility; one from the main vivarium, and one into a separate quarantine room that is only accessed from the exterior hallway. The. quarantine room allows for animals to come from outside the main vivarium (from the other research building or from other universities) to be imaged. All personnel working in the imaging center are trained by the animal care facility staff in small animal care, animal handling, injection techniques, anesthesia techniques, radiation safety, and bio safety procedures. Generally, the in-house animals are imaged on different days from the quarantined animals. In this manner, there is no mixing of animal populations, decreasing the chance for infections to be introduced into the vivarium. The imaging instruments are cleaned after each use, and weekly monitored for the presence of pathogens. When possible, the animal being imaged is contained within a sterile envelope to decrease the risk of infection to the animal and instrument (see Resource Pages for additional detail regarding instrumentation). The SAIRPID has an established track record of successful collaborations with industry partners (ImTek, Novartis, Continuum Lasers Inc.), and investigators at other institutions including Cal Tech, Navel Research Labs at NPS, Monterey, Cedar Sinai Hospital at Los Angeles, UCI/Beckman Laser Institute, the USC School of Medicine and the School of Dentistry, the City of Hope, UCLA, and University of Madrid, Spain. The SAIRPID will also foster development of new imaging technology in fluorescence and near infrared optical imaging in small animal models. The research will be directed at the development of non-invasive, in-vivo optical imaging techniques and the development of agents with imaging labels for the diagnosis of priority pathogens such as Junin virus and Listeria monocytogenes. The resource will also provide a venue for training investigators and students in small animal imaging through research collaborations and seminars.
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