ANIMAL RESOURCES FACILITY EQUIPMENT IMPROVED PROJECT

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Joslin Diabetes Center is committed to the continued improvement of its animal care and use program. Recently completed renovations have greatly improved animal care by providing improvements in the physical plant, cage wash capabilities and animal housing. The addition of a full time Veterinarian Director has also strengthened the program, especially with regards to animal health, protocol development and fiscal stability. This improvement project will support the efforts of the Joslin Diabetes Center to continue the process of providing investigators with a quality research resource by enhancing animal welfare and the efficient operation of the animal facility. The described aims request additional PIV mouse racks, upgrading static murine micro-isolation cages, a full micro-isolation system for rats, a water purification system for all drinking water, and a laminar flow work station for a procedure room. Rats and mice are the only species housed in the Joslin Diabetes Center animal facility and the above improvements will impact their welfare by providing greater biosecurity, higher quality water, a healthier microenvironment for the animals and macrooenvironment for personnel, and static cages which allow animals to be more easily monitored. Aggressive pursuit of the short-term goals of improving animal care is critical to achieving the long-term goal of AAALAC; International accreditation. The research program at the Joslin Diabetes Center has experienced significant expansion and is expected to continue this trend due to the current epidemic of Type II diabetes. Animal models, primarily murine, have been enormously expanded as a result of the powerful tools of transgenic and knockout technologies. Not only will the requested improvements impact animal welfare, but they will also benefit the efficiency of the research animal program.