 A Day in the Life of a Clinical Laboratory Animal Veterinarian  Research Opportunities  Fun Facts

 Provide for the health and well-being of animals used in research and testing Laboratory Animal Medicine  Study of biology and disease in animal models to improve human and animal health Comparative Medicine Research

 Research  Clinical Medicine  Pathology and Diagnostics  Surgery  Teaching and Training  Administration  Diverse and interesting jobs Research Surgery Pathology Clinical Medicine

 No two days are the same!  Multiple components to a clinician’s job  Veterinary Care  Husbandry Oversight  Model Development/Refinement  Investigator Collaboration/Support  Training  Compliance  Protocol Review  Post-Approval Monitoring  Training

 Wide variety of species

 Herd Health  Preventative Medicine  Dog/Cat  NHP  Rodent  Outbreak Management  Research Outcomes vs. Treatment Options  Will a treated animal still be a useful research model?  Model related disease vs. spontaneous disease

 You are the “Expert”!  Wide variety of species  Regulatory Component  Cage size – USDA, The Guide for Care and Use of Laboratory Animals  Changing/Sanitization frequency  Animal Wellbeing  Diet  Bedding Types  Breeding Concerns  All must be kept in the context of the research they are supporting!!!!!!!

 “Hey Doc, I want to study heart disease in…  Mouse  Rat  Pig How do I do it?”  “Hey Doc, I have this mouse that gets heart disease, but it doesn’t show the signs I need it to. Any thoughts?”  How can you help?  This is where you can really help investigators by standing in the hallway and talking to them. Communication is the KEY!

 Alternatives to animal models  How can you help?  3 (4) R’s  Reduce the number of animals used  Refine methods  Replace animal models with other systems  (Respect/Responsibility)

 Model Development/Refinement  Model Support  Surgical Model Development (VAP placement)  Specialized Veterinary Needs (DMD)  Technical Support/Training  Breeding Colony Problems  Training

 PI and their staff  Graduate students  Veterinary students  Public at large

 Animal Care and Use Committee (ACUC)  Animal Use Protocols  Pre-review  Animal Care Quality Assurance  Post-Approval Monitoring  Compliance  Animal welfare concerns  Best cure for most compliance issues is an ounce of prevention (lots of communication and training!)

 Coupling of interests  Veterinary medicine  Research  Post-DVM programs devoted to training in research and veterinary specialties  Examples of research-oriented specialties  American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine (ACLAM)  American College of Veterinary Pathology (ACVP)  American College of Veterinary Anesthesiologists (ACVA)  American College of Veterinary Internal Medicine (ACVIM)  High demand / good pay  Variety of career opportunities

 Develop hypotheses  Perform investigations  Observe and interpret outcomes  Establish conclusions  Prepare grants and manuscripts  Become experts in their fields Peter Doherty, DVM, PhD Nobel Laureate, 1996

 Basic  Clinical / Applied  Veterinary Questions  Human Health Questions  Primary Investigators  Collaborative Scientists Translational Research } } One Health One Medicine

One health initiative

 Technology development for organ transplantation

Examples of Comparative Medicine Research Development for mouse models of cancer metastasis

Example of Micro-CT Image Data Volume rendering of Micro-CT image data. CTI-Concorde LLC MicroCAT II™ Micro-CT Micro-CT Coronal Section

Day 21Day 27Day 35Day 43 Progression of a Tibial Metastasis 0.75 mm1.4 mm2.3 mm ?

Day mm

Day 21 Progression of a Tibial Metastasis

 Anywhere biomedical research is performed  Universities  Pharmaceutical companies  Biotech companies  Government  All over the country / world  Travel!

 Great!!!  Future still bright

 Average Lab Animal Vet Salary (2011) = $162,336  Highest = $500,000  Lowest = $53,000  Consulting to supplement  Average = $17,154  Residency Salaries  Start at $36,996  Post DVM/PhD training (SERCA)  Up to $75,000

Independent and Collaborative Research Improving human and animal life Veterinary Care Development and refinement of animal models Development of alternatives to animals

 Externships / electives  Comparative Medicine Clubs  Student member of ASLAP, ACVP, etc  Meeting opportunities  Talk to Comparative Medicine Scientists and Laboratory Animal Veterinarians  Post-DVM training programs

 What?  3-12 weeks  Summer research programs  Flexible  Many are paid!!!!!  Where?  Academia – training programs  Biotech & pharmaceutical companies  NIH, USDA  Primate centers  How to find?  Visit the web

scholars-national-and-canadian-research-opportunities-for-veterinary-students

 Research  “Residency”  hands on  no internship required  Various combinations  Each program has it’s strengths

 Advantages  Perspective to research  Comparative  Clinician scientist  Research teams  Coupling of interests  Dedicated funding sources for training  Disadvantages?  Time well spent!

 Visit the web  Talk to Comparative Medicine Scientists and Laboratory Animal Veterinarians  Do an externship!!!!!!

DVMGraduate training (MS, PhD, postdoc) Residency Research Combined programs (DVM/PhD) Combined programs (resident/grad) Practice

Exciting careers Great job market Neat toys Great environment

Questions?