•

To provide for the care, health, and well-being of all research animals at Temple University. The emphasis is on providing creature comfort and environmental enrichment with minimization of pain and distress for animals used in research, testing, and education.

•

To administer animal resources and provide biomedical research services to University Investigators and Educators. This effort is accomplished through a centralized office to increase quality control, efficiency, and coordination of service.

•

To uphold the University policies by ensuring observance of, and adherence to, all legal and ethical standards pertaining to the use of animals in biomedical research. This effort is in conjunction with the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) through promulgation of information, experience, and service.

University Laboratory Animal Resources (ULAR) consists of the Central Animal Facility (CAF) at the Health Sciences Center (HSC) and the Main Campus (MC) animal facilities. The CAF animal facilities are in the Medical Research Building (MRB), the School of Pharmacy (AHP), the Old Medical School (OMS), and the Kresge Building (KB). On the Main Campus (MC) there are two animal facilities, one of which is in the Psychology Department’s Weiss Hall Building (WH), the other is in the Biological Life Science (BLS) Building, Neurovirology Department. ULAR is under the Organizational direction of the University Veterinarian, which is under the Institutional direction of the Vice President for Research (VPR). The ULAR serves the collective needs of the HSC and MC for supporting research, teaching and testing programs that employ the use of animals.

Temple’s Animal Care and Use Program Assurance is accountable by the VPR through the IACUC. The IACUC is responsible for evaluating and overseeing the animal care and use programs of the University. The VPR is responsible for ensuring that the decisions of the University Veterinarian and IACUC are properly enforced. At the HSC and MC the Attending Veterinarians (AVs) direct the Veterinary Care Program and have managerial oversight for all laboratory animals to ensure compliance with federal regulations and university policies regarding the use of animals in biomedical research, testing and teaching.

 

 

ULAR responsibilities include, but are not limited to: Daily oversight, husbandry, and veterinary care for all laboratory animals; Maintenance of all associated animal facilities and related equipment; Ordering, receiving, invoicing, and transportation of animals to and from commercial vendors and associated institutions; Maintaining the sentinel program for animal health profiles and treatment regimens; Record keeping for controlled drugs and all USDA regulated animals, including associated research procedures and subsequent archiving; Maintaining a current armamentarium of drugs, supplies, and operating equipment; Training and instructional techniques for research personnel associated with approved protocols and animal research; Continual operation of computer data base system of all related animals on approved protocols; Daily operation of the administrative offices to include, day by day animal census, monthly billing procedures and ongoing personnel and staff service.

Web-based information for general aspects of the ULAR services and program are listed on http://www.research.temple.edu/ular. The ULAR/IAUCU web is designed to assist investigators with general information and proper forms for the AVs and CAF functions.

 

 

All of the animal facilities at Temple University are accredited by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC). This accreditation is recognized by the Public Health Service and the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) for achieving high standards as outlined in the Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals and the Animal Welfare Act (regulations). AAALAC promotes the responsible treatment of animals in science through a voluntary accreditation program. Participating institutions receive independent, unbiased expert assessments of the program and facilities on a 3 year basis. Those that meet or exceed applicable standards are awarded accreditation. Temple University is among those prominent university systems that meet these essential compliance criteria. Most importantly, AAALAC accreditation demonstrates a willingness to go above and beyond the minimums required by law, and assure the public and others that the institution is accountable for, and committed to, the responsible use and treatment of animals in science.

Milton April, DVM is the Director of University Laboratory Animal Resources (ULAR) and the Attending Veterinarian (AV) for the HSC. Dr. Alexis Agelan is the assistant ULAR veterinarian and the AV for the MC. Both veterinarians are in charge of program oversight, organizational function, and veterinary management of all laboratory animals at the HSC and MC. They participate as members of the IACUC, Institution Biosafety Committee (IBC), Occupational Health and Safety Committee (OH&S), and the University Crisis Management Committee (UCMC). The veterinarians report to the Office’s of the Vice President for Research, and Dean of the Medical School.

 

The ULAR has a wide range of animal research and training programs involving a variety of animal species, ranging from rodents to large animals including dogs, pigs and sheep. The initial training of PIs and research investigators comes under the auspices of the IACUC and the ULAR. The IACUC office assures researcher training to meet compliance standards for protocol approval. ULAR provides special training, veterinary oversight, and/or technical assistance for investigators on an individual project basis. ULAR provides husbandry and caretaker training through in-house training sessions, for example; one-on-one training, computer-based PC instruction, SOPs on-the-job training, and monetarily supports local AALAS seminars, vendor symposiums, and regional continued educational meetings. Area managers and supervisors are required to maintain AALAS technical status and attend managerial courses. The veterinarians maintain their accreditation and current knowledge base through local and national continued education courses, symposiums, and meetings.

Clinical training and teaching programs are provided by specialists who demonstrate new instrumentation, anesthetic procedures, and advanced surgical techniques combining the use of lasers, endoscopes, and fluoroscopy for macro and microsurgery. Instructors are usually the veterinarians, experienced technicians, clinically skilled physicians, or expert principal investigators (PIs).

Clinical research or surgery training usually utilizes larger animals concerned with cardiac prosthetic devices, dental implants, organ transplants, vascular, muscle and tissue grafting studies. Smaller animals are used in studies mainly concerned with fertility, thrombosis, hybridomas, neonatology, carcinogenesis, pharmacology, infectious diseases, various areas of developmental genetics, and tissues for culture. Rodent breeding programs produce different types of inbred and outbred strains, unique types of transgenics, and other genetic mutations (knock ins/knock outs) affecting various organ systems and research manipulations.

Testing protocols are in the nature of non-GLP, pre-clinical trials for products ranging from topical medication to prosthetic device material derivation. The research protocol files and associated records are available in hard copy at the IACUC and ULAR offices for perusal by USDA, OLAW, FDA, DOD, DEA or AAALAC site visitors. Official (approved) animal care and use protocols (ACUPs) are maintained in the IACUC office database. Currently there are 102 investigators with 221 active research protocols on file as of August 2007 with 75% being federally funded.

Nonhuman primates (NHPs) or any other types of exotic or endangered species are NOT used for research, testing or training at the HSC or MC.