# Shared Resource: Laboratory Animal Facility

> **NIH NIH P30** · RESEARCH INST OF FOX CHASE CAN CTR · 2020 · $193,210

## Abstract

MODEL SYSTEMS SHARED RESOURCE: LABORATORY ANIMAL FACILITY (LAF) 
PROJECT SUMMARY/ABSTRACT 
The Laboratory Animal Facility (LAF) allows the creation and use of translational animal models to facilitate 
research for Cancer Center members. The animal care program at FCCC has been fully accredited by 
AAALAC International since 1969 and has been awarded Emeritus status. The LAF is in full compliance with 
regulatory agencies including the Drug Enforcement Administration, United States Department of Agriculture, 
and Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare. Under the direction of Hilton Klein, VMD and with the support of 16 
LAF management and technical staff, the LAF provides animal husbandry and animal support services for 
Cancer Center members who require mice, rabbits, frogs or other rodents for their research. Under the 
direction of Jennifer Rhodes, PhD, and the support of a scientific technician, a new Zebrafish service line is 
now available to Cancer Center members. Zebrafish are an ideal model to discover genes that are essential 
for hematopoietic development in vivo. The spectrum of blood cell types and the genes known to regulate 
normal hematopoiesis are well conserved between zebrafish and mammals, suggesting that the regulatory 
mechanisms directing lineage specification and differentiation are similar across vertebrate species. 38 
Cancer Center members used the LAF in 2014. 95% of the mouse cages occupied in 2014 supported the 
science of investigators with peer-reviewed funding. 100% of the use of zebrafish services was in support of 
peer-review funded investigators in 2014. For the period 2011-2014, the LAF was utilized by 55 Cancer 
Center members from all five Research Programs. A Comparative Medical Research Building was constructed 
during the last cycle at a cost of $14M. ARRA funds of $8M were matched with institutional investment of $6M. 
This new vivarium adjoins the existing LAF building and provides an additional 12,511 net square feet for 
animal housing and procedures. FCCC invested $765,783 in renovations and equipment to make zebrafish 
services available. An on-site, centralized LAF is cost efficient and critical to the peer-reviewed, funded 
research programs at FCCC. The research animals and animal care staff are readily available to investigators 
and modifications in breeding, husbandry, or treatment protocols can be readily accomplished reducing any 
delay or misinterpretation. Although an off-site commercial facility could conceivably supply and care for 
FCCC research animals, the inconvenience to the investigators in both travel and transporting animals to and 
from FCCC would be a serious impairment to research. The majority (90%) of the approved animal use 
protocols involve at least weekly, in some instances daily, observations, data, or tissue collections by the 
research staff. The LAF is advised by a dedicated Facility Advisory Committee (FAC) that meets at least 
annually. FAC recommendations are direct...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 9996576
- **Project number:** 5P30CA006927-55
- **Recipient organization:** RESEARCH INST OF FOX CHASE CAN CTR
- **Principal Investigator:** Christin Veeder
- **Activity code:** P30 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2020
- **Award amount:** $193,210
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 1997-07-01 → 2024-12-31

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/9996576

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 9996576, Shared Resource: Laboratory Animal Facility (5P30CA006927-55). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-22 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/9996576. Licensed CC0.

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