Inside the ARP
written by Kathleen Heiderstadt

The Animal Resource Program (ARP), under the Office of the Senior Vice President for Research, provides university wide veterinary oversight, manages the animal facilities at the University Park (UP) campus, and provides veterinary and animal care program support to all outlying campuses that use animals except for the Milton S. Hershey Medical Center. At the UP campus the ARP provides animal care and veterinary support to 20 departments and units and approximately 250 investigators.

The Animal Resource Program (ARP) has a staff of 22, including 11 animal care technicians. The ARP veterinary staff consists of 4 veterinarians and a veterinary technician. Three veterinarians specialize in laboratory animal medicine, and one has primary expertise working with agricultural animals and wildlife. The ARP veterinarians provide clinical care, disease prevention programs, conduct educational workshops and other training programs for research personnel, assist investigators with experimental planning and procedures, and collaborate on research projects. They also help assure animal well being and the humane use of animals through compliance oversight and service on the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee.

Rodents are by far the most commonly used animals in biomedical research. They must be maintained in excellent health under strictly hygienic conditions to eliminate variability and assure accurate experimental results. Rodents at PSU are typically housed in specialized caging systems that protect the animals from potential exposure to infectious disease and ensure good ventilation and healthy living conditions. An animal health care plan provides for an intensive preventive medicine program and includes procedures for surveillance, diagnosis, treatment, and control of animal diseases. The ARP also disseminates information on its services, anesthesia and analgesia procedures, surgery and post surgical care practices, and other procedures through its website: http://www.research.psu.edu/arp/.

Laboratory animal holding facilities at UP occupy 69,500 ft2 in eight buildings and support research and teaching activities in 5 colleges and programs including: (1) Agricultural Sciences; (2) Engineering; (3) Health and Human Development; (4) Science and (5) The Office of the Senior Vice President for Research. Eleven full time ARP animal care technicians supervised by a Facility Coordinator provide daily observation and husbandry care for all the animals housed in ARP facilities 365 days a year, including weekends and holidays. Environmental conditions in the rooms are closely monitored and maintained as recommended by federal guidelines for each species. Alarms connected to temperature and humidity controls notify university personnel whenever conditions deviate from recommended ranges.

Biomedical research is an important component of the PSU research program. The use of complex living models such as mice and rats enable investigators to discover vital information necessary for improving human and animal health. The goal of the ARP is to provide PSU research personnel with appropriate animal care services and facilities in which they may conduct their work and to ensure a healthy, humane environment for all animals used in research at PSU.