Modernizing a Shared-Use Animal Facility Supporting Neuroscience Research at an HBCU

HBCU支持神经科学研究的共享使用动物设施的现代化 总结 特拉华州州立大学（DSU）是一所历史上的黑人大学，在神经科学方面具有新兴优势 研究是NIH资助的特拉华州神经科学研究中心的领导机构，该中心已成立10年 NIGMS生物医学研究卓越中心P20赠款的支持。DSU的Vivarium设施是 在该中心的资助下开始支持DSU研究人员用老鼠进行神经科学研究。我们正在寻求 使我们的Vivarium设施的运营现代化，并确保其提供高效的运营，以支持 DSU生物医学研究人员的研究和对我们啮齿动物研究对象的高质量护理。动物园核心， 它于2017年秋季在新装修的空间开放，是一个关键的研究资源，容纳了小鼠模型， 特拉华州州立大学NIH和NSF资助的神经科学研究课题。 我们建议改善饲养室内的鼠舍，增设一套自动化环境控制系统 和监测系统-自动浇水、湿度控制和Tecniplast数字通风笼（DVC） 和机架环境监测（REM）系统。这些系统将提高我们设施的效率， 改善我们的研究动物的健康，由于更稳定的环境条件和减少动物的需求， 处理、笼操作和亲自动物监测。 带有湿度控制的Tecniplast空气处理装置和Edstrom自动供水系统将 显著改善笼舍环境和对小鼠的护理。最先进的DVC系统和DVC机架 环境监测系统（DVC-REM）设计用于自动连续监测 直接从动物房甚至动物笼内收集的重要环境参数。动物 活动监测可以提供连续的家庭笼动物福利检查， 动物室或扰乱笼子，这将是特别有价值的监测疾病模型和手术后 复苏此外，从DVC系统收集动物活动数据，并补充相关信息， REM系统的环境条件提供了一种独特而强大的方法来提高可靠性， 动物研究的可重复性，防止由于环境条件（如笼水）造成的动物损失，以及 帮助研究人员更好地解释动物实验中可能出现的意外结果。 Vivarium核心支持DSU六个神经科学系的外部资助研究， 未来在DSU生物学和心理学系聘请的教师将有研究项目，涉及 啮齿动物更稳定的环境条件和减少动物处理，将导致从这个设施 现代化将提高研究的可靠性和可重复性，提高当前和未来的研究生产力。 未来的研究人员和支持生物医学研究的进步。

Modernizing a Shared-Use Animal Facility Supporting Neuroscience Research at an HBCU Summary Delaware State University, (DSU) an Historically-Black university with an emerging strength in neuroscience research is the lead institution in the NIH-funded Delaware Center for Neuroscience Research, which is in its 10th year of support from an NIGMS Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence P20 grant. DSU’s Vivarium facility was started under this Center grant to support DSU researchers conducting neuroscience research with mice. We are seeking to modernize the operations of our Vivarium facility and ensure that it provides both efficient operations to support the research of biomedical investigators at DSU and high-quality care for our rodent research subjects. The Vivarium Core, which opened in freshly renovated space in fall 2017, is a key research resource housing the mouse models that are the subject of NIH- and NSF-funded neuroscience research at Delaware State University. We propose to upgrade the rodent housing in our Vivarium with a suite of automated environmental control and monitoring systems - automatic watering, humidity control, and the Tecniplast Digital Ventilated Cages (DVC) and Rack Environmental Monitoring (REM) Systems. These systems will enhance the efficiency of our facility and improve the health of our research animals due to more stable environmental conditions and decreased need for animal handling, cage manipulations and in person animal monitoring. Tecniplast air handling units with humidity control, and an Edstrom automated watering system will significantly improve the cage environment and care of our mice. The state-of-the-art DVC system and DVC Rack Environmental Monitoring system (DVC-REM) have been designed to automatically and continuously monitor important environmental parameters collected directly from animal rooms and even within the animal cages. Animal activity monitoring can provide a continuous home cage animal welfare check without personnel having to enter the animal room or disturb the cages, which will be particularly valuable for monitoring disease models and post-surgery recovery. In addition, collecting animal activity data from the DVC system and complementing it with correlated environmental conditions from the REM system provides a unique and robust approach to advance the reliability and reproducibility of animal research, prevent animal loss due to environmental conditions (such as cage flooding), and to help researchers better interpret possible unexpected results with their animal subjects. The Vivarium core supports the externally-funded research of six neuroscience faculty at DSU, and it is likely that future faculty hired in the biology and psychology departments at DSU will have research projects that involve rodents. The more stable environmental conditions and reduced animal handling that will result from this facility modernization will improve research reliability and reproducibility, increasing the research productivity of current and future investigators and support the advancement of biomedical research.