Improving the Animal Resource Program's Cage Wash Facilities

描述（由申请方提供）：本申请的总体目标是实现我们的使命，即为研究、试验和教学项目提供并保持始终如一的高质量健康动物，确保动物护理和使用符合实验动物护理和使用指南的标准，并为使用或护理动物的人员提供安全健康的工作场所。该提案寻求资金，以更换20多年的机架和隧道笼清洗机，并翻新和升级设备的公用设施和空间。这些对比较医学系动物资源计划的改进将为同行评审的NIH资助的研究计划提供直接支持。所要求的改进和采购与使现有系统符合动物护理和使用的现行要求和最佳实践直接相关，对于保持AAALAC持续认证和遵守动物福利法及其他相关法规和指南至关重要。我们的目标是不断加强和改进宾夕法尼亚州立大学好时动物资源计划，以满足日益增长的需求，因为该机构的研究扩展到蛋白质组学/基因组学，生物信息学，纳米和再生医学和神经工程等领域。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall objective of this application is to achieve our mission of providing and maintaining consistently high quality, healthy animals for research, testing and teaching programs, assuring care and use of animals consistent with the standards of the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, and provide a safe and healthy workplace for personnel who use or care for animals. This proposal seeks funding to replace the 20+year old rack and tunnel cage washers, and renovate and upgrade the utilities and space for the equipment. These improvements to the Animal Resource Program operated by the Department of Comparative Medicine will provide direct support of peer- reviewed, NIH-funded research programs. The requested improvements and purchases are directly related to brining existing systems into accordance with current requirements and best practices for animal care and use and are essential to maintain continued AAALAC accreditation and compliance with the Animal Welfare Act and other relevant regulations and guidelines. Our goal is to continually enhance and improve the Penn State Hershey Animal Resource Program to meet increasing demands as research at the institution expands into areas such as proteomics/genomics, bioinformatics, nano- and regenerative medicine and neural engineering.