MIT Reports to the President 1995-96
The Division of Comparative Medicine (DCM) provides animal husbandry and
clinical care for all research animals on the MIT campus. From its inception in
1974, the Division has evolved into a comprehensive laboratory animal program
that provides a full range of veterinary and surgical support. Additionally,
the Division has a National Institutes of Health (NIH) funded training program
for veterinarians specializing in laboratory animal/comparative medicine and
conducts externally funded research focusing on comparative medicine. Total
personnel in the Division now comprises 85 individuals.
Major renovations and improvements in the animal facilities continued
during FY96. The new, state-of-the-art 30,000 GSF animal resource in Building
68 has been occupied since November, 1994. Animals were moved back into the
renovated E17/E18 facilities in March. Both 68 and E17/18 support transgenic
and gene "knockout" in vivo experiments. Renovations are currently
underway in Buildings 56 and 16. A new addition on the Whitehead facility has
been completed and animals were moved there in February. The average daily
census of laboratory animals increased approximately 5 percent during FY96.
Mice remain the primary species used by MIT investigators and represent more
than 98 percent of the animal population. The Division recently distributed to
investigators the third edition of its comprehensive Laboratory Animal Users'
Handbook.
Current NIH-funded grants support in vivo study of nitrite
carcinogenesis, in vivo study of Helicobacter hepaticus
carcinogenesis, in vivo study of the etiology of lymphoma in ferrets and
the effects of Helicobacter felis on gastric cancer. Recently NIH
funded another RO1 grant to study H. pylori pathogenesis. Additionally,
NCI funded for a third year a study of Helicobacter hepaticus which has
been linked to liver cancer in mice. Private pharmaceutical firms have provided
funding for research on the pathogenesis of Helicobacter pylori
and vaccine development. FY96 was the eighth year of the Division's NIH
postdoctoral training grant. There are currently six postdoctoral trainees, two
of whom are enrolled in graduate programs in the Division of Toxicology. Two
former postdoctoral trainees passed the board examinations of the American
College of Laboratory Animal Medicine.
DCM faculty and staff published three chapters, 23 papers and 18 abstracts in
FY96 and presented numerous research papers at national and international
meetings.
The Division has recruited a number of new staff members. Charles
Dangler, DVM, Ph.D and an ACVP boarded pathologist joined the Division as the
Chief of the Comparative Pathology Laboratory to replace Dr. James Murphy who
retired. Mark Whary, DVM, PhD and an ACLAM boarded diplomate joined the
Division as the Associate Director. Dr. Karen McGovern has a PhD in molecular
biology and was recruited from Harvard to be primarily involved in research.
She has been appointed Assistant Director for Research. Dr. Robert Marini,
Chief of Surgical Resources, was promoted to Assistant Director of DCM. DCM
faculty and staff taught the graduate course Toxicology 201 and also sponsored
UROP students.
Didactic training sessions were conducted throughout the year by DCM
staff in conjunction with the Committee on Animal Care to train Institute
personnel on topics pertaining to the care and use of laboratory animals. The
Committee continued to distribute to other institutions in the United States
and abroad two instructional videos, one focusing on the role and
responsibilities of Institutional Committees for the Care and Use of Animals
and the other focusing on the use of anesthesia in laboratory animals. The
Committee received external funding to make the videos. Both are available to
MIT researchers at the Division or in the Schering-Plough Library.
James G. Fox
MIT Reports to the President 1995-96