Enhancing Animal Welfare and Reproducibility of Biomedical Research at FAU

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Florida Atlantic University's (FAU's) growing research enterprise, in particular in the biomedical science, has put significant strain and demands on expanding and improving our animal care operations. As part of this growth, FAU has implemented central research core oversight, which includes the veterinary care unit, Comparative Medicine. Current operations include a policy, rate structure and advisory committee oversight. A new vivarium is slated to come online in 2022. What is currently missing in this growing-demand environment is the support required to update and modernize equipment. Yet, such modernization is desperately needed to improve upon rigor and reproducibility of research data involving animals. We here propose the acquisition of DVCTM racks to house mice in the new vivarium under the most diligent conditions. These racks will allow the minute monitoring of animal support and welfare via digitized monitoring, without disturbing the animals themselves. This will be particularly important for mice housed in the new vivarium, as most of them are involved in neurobehavioral studies, where slight disturbances can have a significant impact on research data. The acquisition of these DVCTM racks will provide a significant boost to FAU's efforts to improve and increase its research enterprise and improve the wellbeing of our animals.