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

SurgeryPathology

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 PigHow 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

TranslationalResearch

}

}One HealthOne Medicine

One health initiativehttp://onehealthinitiative.com/index.php

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 LLCMicroCAT II™

Micro-CTMicro-CT Coronal

Section

Day 21 Day 27 Day 35 Day 43

Progression of a Tibial Metastasis

0.75 mm 1.4 mm 2.3 mm

?

Day 27

0.75 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

http://www.aclam.org/

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

http://cvm.msu.edu/research/summer-research-program-1/merck-merial-veterinary-scholars/merck-merial-veterinary-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!!!!!!

DVM Graduate training (MS, PhD, postdoc)

Residency

Research

Research

Combined programs (DVM/PhD)

Combined programs (resident/grad)

Practice

Exciting careers Great job market Neat toys Great

environment

Questions?