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

对 HBCU 支持神经科学研究的共享动物设施进行现代化改造 总结 特拉华州立大学 (DSU) 是一所历史悠久的黑人大学，在神经科学领域具有新兴优势 该研究是美国国立卫生研究院 (NIH) 资助的特拉华州神经科学研究中心的牵头机构，该中心已进入第十个年头 NIGMS 生物医学研究卓越中心 P20 赠款的支持。 DSU 的动物园设施是 在该中心拨款下开始支持 DSU 研究人员用小鼠进行神经科学研究。我们正在寻找 实现我们动物园设施运营的现代化，并确保其提供高效运营以支持 DSU 生物医学研究人员的研究以及对啮齿动物研究对象的高质量护理。生态园核心， 该中心于 2017 年秋季在新装修的空间内开业，是一个重要的研究资源，其中存放着小鼠模型，这些模型是 特拉华州立大学由 NIH 和 NSF 资助的神经科学研究课题。 我们建议使用一套自动化环境控制系统来升级我们动物园中的啮齿动物房屋 和监控系统 - 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 由于更稳定的环境条件和减少的动物需求，改善了我们研究动物的健康 处理、笼子操作和亲自动物监测。 带湿度控制功能的 Tecniplast 空气处理装置和 Edstrom 自动浇水系统将 显着改善了小鼠的笼内环境和护理。最先进的 DVC 系统和 DVC 机架 环境监测系统（DVC-REM）旨在自动连续监测 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笼动物福利检查，而无需人员进入 动物房或扰乱笼子，这对于监测疾病模型和术后特别有价值 恢复。此外，从 DVC 系统收集动物活动数据并与相关数据进行补充 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和 动物研究的可重复性，防止因环境条件（例如笼子淹水）而造成的动物损失，以及 帮助研究人员更好地解释他们的动物受试者可能出现的意外结果。 Vivarium 核心支持 DSU 六名神经科学教师的外部资助研究，并且很可能 未来 DSU 生物系和心理学系聘用的教师将开展涉及以下内容的研究项目： 啮齿动物。该设施将带来更稳定的环境条件并减少动物处理 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 未来的研究人员并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.