Using Animals in Research and
Teaching at Stanford University
A Checklist for New Students and Staff
Department of Comparative Medicine
The Department of Comparative Medicine (DCM) would like to welcome
all new graduate students, post-doctoral fellows and staff to Stanford
University. We have developed the following checklist to assist
you in working with laboratory animals in your research. Please
feel free to contact
us anytime for further information.
Checklist for
New Graduate Students, Post Doctoral Fellows & Staff
It is YOUR responsibility to:
- Read, and be familiar with, the most current version of the protocol that you are working on before you begin working with animals at Stanford University.
- Contact Stanford’s Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee, the Administrative Panel for Laboratory Animal Care (A-PLAC), (650-723-4550)
- Amend the protocol to include your name as one of the research personnel.
- Become familiar with the "A-PLAC Guidelines” and Stanford Policies
- Enroll in the Occupational Health and Safety Program
- Learn about the Lab Partners Program
- Learn about methods to report animal care and use concerns
- Contact the Veterinary Service Center (VSC) (650-723-3876)
- Enroll in the DCM Animal Care and Use Training Program (650-725-9901)
- Meet with the Operations
Manager to:
- Obtain cardkey access to the animal facility and access to your specific animal rooms
- Discuss general husbandry procedures
- Review cage card bar code system
- Take a tour of the animal facility
- Receive appropriate training for your procedure(s) before you begin working with animals.
- Familiarize yourself with the Veterinary Staff which includes:
- 2 Veterinarians board certified in laboratory animal medicine
- 2 Veterinarians board certified in veterinary pathology
- 1 Veterinarian board certified in internal medicine
- 5 Veterinary nurses/Registered Veterinary Technician’s
- Arrange a meeting with one of the veterinarians to:
- Discuss protocol concerns and to obtain assistance in writing protocols
- Arrange a training session to learn a specific technique
- Learn of available services (pharmacy requests, RVT training, RVT assistance, surgical & anesthesia services, intensive care unit, health monitoring, treatment of spontaneous and experimentally induced diseases)
- Consider enrolling in a Comparative Medicine course.
Department of Comparative Medicine
The Department of Comparative Medicine manages all animal facilities
at Stanford. The Research Animal Facility (RAF) at Stanford University
School of Medicine is part of a centralized system for laboratory animal
care. It complies with federal, state, and local guidelines for laboratory
animal care and is accredited by the Association for Assessment and
Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) International.
The RAF has 110,000 net square feet and an average daily census of 100,000
animals, including a wide variety of species. It contains a surgical
suite with five operating rooms and an Intensive Care/Recovery suite
for postoperative care, staffed by veterinary technicians. The
RAF also contains fully equipped and staffed clinical pathology and microbiology
laboratories and an animal necropsy laboratory. These facilities support
the clinical responsibilities of the department and are available for
use by investigators. A Class III biosafety area is also available for
use by faculty and staff.
Contacts
For additional
information, please contact:
| Department of Comparative Medicine | (650) 498-5080 |
| Veterinary Service Center | (650) 723-3876 |
| A-PLAC (Office of the Dean of Research) | (650) 723-4550 |
| Attending Veterinarian, Stephen Felt, DVM, MPH | (650) 723-5305 |
| Operations Manager, Reese Zasio | (650) 723-3876 |
| Training & Compliance Coordinator, Jennifer Lee | (650) 725-9901 |
