Grant: Research Tools and Instruments

We are requesting new rodent surgical and post-surgical infrastructure to support our research and training activities in the Canadian Centre for Behavioural Neuroscience at the University of Lethbridge. The application is to support the acquisition of mobile ventilated surgical and dissection table together with recovery cabinet. The immediate need is prompted by the imminent move of the vivarium at the University of Lethbridge from its current location in the building housing the CCBN, a multidisciplinary research institute, into a new science building currently under construction, that will house not only CCBN but all natural science disciplines, scheduled to be opened summer 2019. At present, we have no individually ventilated systems to assist with rodent surgery, post-surgery recovery and perfusion/tissue collection processes. The new vivarium was designed and has been constructed in such a way that the surgical, post-surgical recovery and perfusion/tissue collection rooms will only accommodate individually ventilated units and the existing traditional non-mobile systems cannot be moved into the new building. Performing surgical procedures are essential to our NSERC-funded rodent-based research. There will be a significant interruption of our research projects along with the work of trainees if we fail to acquire the surgical systems and associated recovery cabinets. Apart from the requirement prompted by the move of the vivarium into a newly constructed building outlined in the proposal, the ventilated recovery cabinets are preferred by vivarium experts as they minimize the stress and circadian rhythm disturbance and provide individualized control over several environmental factors, such as temperature that will ultimately improve the scientific robustness of our discoveries. The acquisition of these critical items is central to our NSERC-funded programs, and will support our new and established partnerships, and collaborations, and the training of 300 HQP per year.