Acquisition of Individually Ventilated Cage Rack Systems for the University of Mississippi Vivarium

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Project Summary Utilization of individually-ventilated cage systems (IVCs) for housing rodents has become the industry standard across the fields of biomedical research. The combined approach of socially housing rodents in filter-topped, microisolator cages with tightly-controlled air exchange rates and continuous monitoring of the homecage microenvironment promotes animal welfare, occupational safety, and research reproducibility. Ultimately, IVCs reduce animal husbandry burdens thereby encouraging efficient resource utilization and time allocation. At the University of Mississippi (UM), increased faculty recruitment and the recent growth of multiple animal research laboratories has resulted in a rising momentum to modernize our shared use animal facilities. Recent surveys of rodent research teams on campus revealed a robust demand for the incorporation of IVCs throughout the rodent vivarium facility. The goal of this proposal is to help meet the needs of animal research teams by implementing IVCs throughout the rodent housing rooms in our shared-use vivarium. The Vice Chancellor for Research, Office of Research Integrity and Compliance, and the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee at UM gathered feedback from investigators, animal care staff, external consultants, and our accrediting bodies to assess areas for improvement and modernization throughout all animal housing areas on campus. Administrative units within the School of Pharmacy and Office of Research and Sponsored Programs recently supported the acquisition of 3 RAIR HD Super Mouse 750™ IVCs from LabProducts. The implementation of these systems was straightforward and subsequent benefits in microenvironment control and signs of animal and researcher satisfaction are clear. We now propose to implement the RAIR HD Super Mouse and Super Rat systems throughout all rodent housing rooms. Our facility is fully-equipped for immediate implementation, with no renovations required. The call for modernization is further driven by standing infrastructure concerns relating to the HVAC and potential allergen exposures within our facility, which the animal oversight teams responding to swiftly and strategically. Acquisition of the RAIR HD Super systems is a component of our strategic actions, as they have additional innovative air flow filtration technologies that can improve HVAC burden and allergen exposure. Thus, incorporation of IVCs in our rodent housing facility will allow us to remediate standing infrastructure concerns, prevent multiple potential issues, and promote efficiency within our animal research program.