Animal Models

PROJECT SUMMARY: ANIMAL MODELS MODULE The Vanderbilt Vision Research Center (VVRC) includes faculty investigators with strong interest in discerning relationships between visual circuits and behavior, between cortical structures and physiology, and between brain regions and perception/behavior in non-human primate and prosimian species. These cognitive- and systems-level investigations require access to expert veterinary husbandry and surgical skills, especially for longitudinal studies requiring use of the same animal cohort over many months. Many of these investigators and those using smaller rodents have increasing need of veterinary support for noninvasive live imaging through the Center for Small Animal Imaging (CSAI) within the Vanderbilt University Institute for Imaging Science, while others require expert guidance on animal model development, protocols, and specialized care during longitudinal experimentation. The purpose of the VVRC Animals Models Module, which is housed in Wilson Hall near primary users and directed by NEI R01 funded Christos Constantinidis, is to provide a comprehensive veterinary service for support of vision research using non-human primates and other mammals that is not covered by staff members supported by individual grants. This module is a VVRC-intrinsic core administered through the Department of Psychology and is provided to VVRC members by request and not through the VUMC Office of Research scholarship platform. In the current funding cycle, 6 investigators with current NEI R01 awards used the Animal Models service for experiments with non-human primate or pro- simian species (Calkins, Constantinidis, Kaas, Maier, and Tong), as did an additional 4 investigators with NEI pending NEI R01 proposals (Bastos, Rex, Wareham, Woodman). Other vision scientists with NIH funding round out this particular user base (Hoffman, Ramachandran, Wallace, Womelsdorf, and Woodman. In the current funding period, the Animal Models service contributed material for 101 publications involving 13 VVRC faculty authors. Projected use of the service module is considerable, with 11 of 16 current NEI R01 grant holders projecting moderate (6) to extensive (5) use of the core. Of our 7 members with NEI RO1 proposals in review, 5 will have moderate to extensive use. Leveraging this success, the VVRC Animal Services Module will: (1) provide expert assistance with nonhuman primate surgical procedures, (2) provide training on best, aseptic, nonhuman primate surgical practices, (3) support breeding of prosimian species used for vision research, (4) facilitate access to and use of a multi-modal set of imaging tools for the study of vision in animal models, and (5) provide veterinary guidance and expertise for model and protocol development. These services and resources will enhance the scope of experimentation NEI-funded VVRC investigators conduct, promote innovation through specialized veterinary procedures to those who otherwise would not have such capabilities, including early-career vision scientists competing for extramural funding for their laboratories and established investigators who rely upon the use of non-human primates for their research.