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Institute of Animal Technology Bulletin G G G G 31st AGM Minutes Congress 2017 Report Congress Picture Albums ABTA 2018 G G G G AS ET Branch News Situations Vacant Diary Dates CONGRESS 2017 SPECIAL ISSUE Vol 53 No 6 June 2017

Bulletin Vol 53 No 6 June 2017 EDITOR Sarah Lane bulletineditor iat org uk ASSISTANT EDITOR Carole Wilson bulletinassistant iat org uk ADVERTISEMENT MANAGERS PRC Associates Ltd mail prcassoc co uk Published monthly by the Institute of Animal Technology Registered Office 5 South Parade Summertown Oxford OX2 7JL ISSN 0263 2861 For enquiries other than Bulletin related contact IAT ADMINISTRATOR admin iat org uk or 0800 085 4380 Final copy date for August Bulletin 1st July The opinions expressed in the Bulletin do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor or the Institute CONTENTS Abridged Minutes for 31st AGM 5 9 Congress 2017 Report 11 39 Suppliers Register i xliv Congress Picture Album Part 1 40 41 AS ET 43 45 Congress Picture Album Part 2 46 47 The Andrew Blake Tribute Award 48 49 Janet Wood Innovation Award 51 53 Congress Picture Album Part 3 54 55 Branch News 58 59 Congress Picture Album Part 4 60 61 Situations Vacant 62 Diary Dates 63

Bulletin June 2017 5 ABRIDGED MINUTES OF THE 31ST ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OF THE INSTITUTE OF ANIMAL TECHNOLOGY 18 00 hours on Tuesday 21st March 2017 held at the Celtic Manor Resort Newport Gwent A full set of minutes is available on the IAT website www iat org uk The AGM was chaired by the IAT President Robin Lovell Badge FRS and attended by 74 members Ken Applebee sadly reported that Keith Millican had after a long and debilitating illness passed away on 16th February An obituary written by Dorothy Woodnott was then read which has subsequently appeared in the May 2017 issue of the Bulletin There was a few moments silence for those attending to remember Keith and other IAT members who are no longer with us The IAT President Robin Lovell Badge welcomed everyone to the IAT AGM and chaired the meeting 1 Apologies No apologies were received 2 Minutes of the 30th Annual General Meeting of the Institute of Animal Technology held on 8th March 2016 at the Harrogate International Centre Harrogate The minutes were accepted as a true and accurate record of the meeting Proposed Steven Cubitt Seconded Alan Graham Carried unanimously 3 Matters arising from the minutes There were no matters arising 4 Correspondence There was no correspondence to be covered under this item 5 Annual Report The full IAT Annual Report had been published on the IAT website prior to Congress 2017 and Linda Horan the Hon Secretary then spoke to the report

6 June 2017 Bulletin Note all members were notified via email of the Annual Report The IAT were delighted to receive an Openness Award from Understanding Animal Research for the interactive Animal Technologist Career Pathway Membership LH reported that there were 2494 members of the IAT at the end of 2016 Fellows FIAT Members MIAT Associate Affiliate Others Education members 109 478 184 1160 70 493 Board of Educational Policy Unfortunately the IAT Level 2 Diploma in Work Based Animal Technology QCF developed in conjunction with the MRC closed in 2016 due to lack of student numbers and the introduction of the new Trailblazer apprenticeship scheme However the Level 3 Trailblazer apprenticeship standards for animal technology have been accepted and published on the government website Thanks must be given to Mark Gardiner MRC Harwell and his team and to Brian Lowe for their dedication and professionalism This year has seen the launch of The College of Laboratory Animal Science Technology CLAST a Charitable Incorporated Organisation established to provide tuition to students undertaking the Institute of Animal Technology Higher education qualifications and associated CPD units Registration and Accreditation Board Negotiations with the Science Council have continued throughout 2016 and the licence to award RSciTech Registered Science Technician status was received in November 2016 Negotiations to award RSciTech to all current RAnTechs is on going The AAALAC International Fellowship open to RAnTechs is intended to promote and reward the efforts of technicians who have demonstrated a commitment to a career in laboratory animal science The 2016 UK recipient was Stephen Woodley King s College London and two US recipients were chosen for the award Bob Dauchy and Donna Goldsteen

Bulletin June 2017 7 Animal Technology Welfare and Bulletin Three issues of ATW were published during 2016 The Editor always welcomes ideas for article topics and particularly wishes to include more material form contributors in Europe and other international authors Twelve monthly Bulletins were published Both Editors wished to thank PRC Associates and everyone at Warwick Printing for their assistance Communications Group A Caring Career brochure has been developed and is being handed out at meetings attended by the IAT and also at school careers events Following a suggestion made by the Youth Reps a competition was held to design a logo to accompany the Caring Career slogan which is being used on IAT Merchandise The Communications Group have also been involved in promoting Tech Month Website The IAT website continues to develop and is under constant review Congress Congress 2016 was very successful and was held in a purpose built conference centre in Harrogate Attendance numbers have remained steady over previous years at around 400 President and Vice Presidents Council wished to thank the President and Vice Presidents for their invaluable advice help and support 6 Financial Report Charlie Chambers CEC reported that the annual accounts for 2016 are available on the IAT website CEC thanked everyone for their hard work throughout the year CEC then highlighted some areas of the accounts The surplus expenditure over income after taxation for 2016 was 11 089 Despite this surplus IAT Council had undertaken an amazing amount of work and in part due to the voluntary aspects undertaken by Council the IAT remains in a good financial position CEC reported that the annual subscription fee had not increased in 2017 but that he proposed increasing fees for 2018 CEC proposed an increase of

8 June 2017 Bulletin Affiliate corporate rate from 45 to 48 Membership rate from 47 to 50 Fellowship rate from 51 to 54 Proposed David Spillane Seconded Norman Mortell The proposal was carried with one vote against The Financial Report and the Audited Accounts were then proposed Proposed Glyn Fisher Seconded Cathy Godfrey Carried unanimously 7 Appointment of the Auditor The Treasurer proposed that King Loose be re appointed as auditors for 2017 This was agreed Proposed Charlie Chambers Seconded Glyn Fisher Carried unanimously 8 Election of Officers KAA took over as chair of the AGM for the appointment of the President 8 i President Council wished to propose Robin Lovell Badge FRS as President for the forthcoming year Proposed Council Seconded Jas Barley Carried unanimously 8 ii Vice Presidents The following were proposed en bloc as Vice Presidents David Anderson Susan Houlton Clive Page Stephen Barnett Wendy Jarrett Gail Thompson Miles Carroll Judy MacArthur Clark Robert Weichbrod Brian Cass Fiona McEwen Vicky Robinson Gerald Clough Tim Morris Paul Flecknell Jose Orellana Proposed Council Seconded Brian Lowe Carried unanimously

Bulletin June 2017 9 8 iii Council There were ten candidates for nine vacancies on Council so following an election nine candidates were appointed to serve a three year term Ken Applebee Matt Bilton Kally Booth Charlie Chambers Alan Graham Council welcomes Kally Linda Horan Sam Jameson Adele Kitching Lynda Westall Booth as a new member of IAT Council 9 Proposals for Honorary and Life Membership Council were pleased to propose Wendy Steel for Honorary Membership and this proposal was carried unanimously Proposed Linda Horan Seconded Adrian Woodhouse Carried unanimously 10 Presentation of Honorary Fellowship Council proposed that Professor Paul Flecknell be awarded Honorary Fellowship of the Institute Ken Applebee KAA spoke to the award Paul Flecknell accepted his award saying that he was delighted to accept the Honorary Fellowship and thanking the Institute for his nomination 11 Any Other Business There being no other business Robin Lovell Badge closed the meeting at 18 35 hours and wished everyone an enjoyable Congress

F rom Monday 20th March the Congress Committee and trade exhibitors arrived at Celtic Manor in preparation for what would prove to be a very successful Congress 2017 attended by 440 participants Trade Exhibition Loading Bay Whilst the Congress Committee set to stuffing delegate goody bags having last minute runs through the timetable for the week with the venue and generally preparing for the arrival of delegates on Tuesday morning the trade exhibitors began putting up their exhibition stands

12 June 2017 Bulletin The Trade Exhibition begins to take shape A sunny Tuesday morning saw the arrival of the first delegates checking in and registering for the workshops taking place that afternoon As in 2016 workshops were offered on Tuesday afternoon and these proved very popular being fully subscribed Alan and Nikki welcome delegates at the IAT Reception desk

Bulletin June 2017 13 Allan Thornhill and Alistair Russell overseeing the Trade Exhibition For delegates for whom this was their first Congress an orientation tour took place on Tuesday afternoon This is a great way to find out a bit more about the venue what will take place where and ends up at an Ice Breaker session attended by 66 people which was kindly sponsored by DBM Scotland Orienteers touring the venue

14 June 2017 Bulletin Attendees received a very handy bottle opener torch keyring and played some fun games for prizes of IAT merchandise For those who are attending Congress on their own this an excellent way to meet other delegates and become more involved with the event Putting the batteries in the torches The IAT AGM took place on Tuesday evening chaired by our President Robin Lovell Badge and was attended by 74 members Linda Horan Hon Secretary spoke to the IAT Annual Report highlighting activities of the various Council committees and that following this year s election results Council welcomed a new member Kally Booth Charlie Chambers Hon Treasurer then spoke to the Annual Accounts for 2016 The President Vice Presidents and Council members for the coming year were subsequently elected The AGM concluded with the presentation of IAT Honorary Fellowship to Professor Paul Flecknell in recognition of his outstanding contribution to laboratory animal science and welfare especially recognition of pain animal anaesthesia and analgesia along with his continuing support of the IAT and our members

Bulletin June 2017 From left to right Charlie Chambers Linda Horan Ken Applebee and Robin Lovell Badge at the AGM Professor Flecknell receiving his Honorary Fellowship from the IAT President Robin Lovell Badge 15

Bulletin June 2017 17 Workshop registration went online for the first time for Congress 2017 Places were released over the three months preceding Congress and the workshops filled up quickly We again experienced problems with people registering for places confirming their attendance and yet still failing to turn up for workshops This does mean that other people were not able to attend and places are not filled on the day The Congress Committee are looking at ways to prevent this happening in future perhaps you have the answer Suzanne Rogers presenter Patrick Hardy presenter Bella Williams and John Meredith presenters Penny Hawkins and Tania Boden presenters Jon Faupel and Tomasso Sala presenters

18 June 2017 Bulletin Ten workshops were offered at Congress 2017 covering a variety of topics How to be an AWERB Champion Working with minipigs all you ever wanted to know Introduction to Zebrafish Practical aseptic technique Basic and Advanced Severity classification and reporting Adrian Zeltner presenter Kathryn Owen presenter Kathy Ryder presenter Diana Baumann presenter Olga Woolmer and Alex Zervas presenters

Bulletin June 2017 19 Preparing to present for the first time Using the science of human behaviour to improve animal welfare IVC environmental health monitoring 3Rs and colony management Playtime for rats Nice to meet you what do you do for a living Workshops started on Tuesday afternoon with the majority running on Wednesday to avoid any clashes with paper presentations The one session of paper presentations prior to the start of the workshops included the Flash Trade presentations which is a series of one minute slots where exhibitors can promote their latest innovations and products and try to entice delegates to visit their stands Alan Graham Congress Committee Chair opening Congress 2017

20 June 2017 Bulletin Some Flash Trade Presentations Ross Meggison Managing Director at Castium Thomas Follier Business Development Manager at Edstrom Elen Aspden Account Manager at IDEXX Glyn Selway Business Manager at Ortner Chris Langley RBDS Manager at Bioquell

Bulletin Home Office update provided by Will Reynolds On Thursday there were a variety of paper presentations The session opened with an update from the Home Office given by Will Reynolds The Home Office update is always a popular presentation and we are very grateful to ASRU for their continued input and support of Congress The session continued with a record six First Time Presenters This was a thoroughly enjoyable session and the judges were very impressed with all the entries The award for the First Time Presenter went to Emma Vacca for her paper Focus on improving welfare reducing stress and aiding recovery of surgical procedures Emma was presented with a cheque for 200 by Roy Sutcliffe of Marshall BioResources who kindly sponsor this award Paul Barwood on Light intensity and its impact on survival rates of pigmentless Zebrafish Danio rerio June 2017 21

Bulletin June 2017 23 Melanie Galvin on Refinement of tumour passage by optimisation of tissue disaggregation protocol Samantha Izzard on Refinements in rat dual cannulation surgery by using the vascular access button offering the advantage of group housing

24 June 2017 Bulletin Elizabeth Hurd on Advances in transgenic technology Megan Cooper on Working with poultry in avian viral disease research spreading our wings

Bulletin June 2017 Emma Vacca on Focus on improving welfare reducing stress and aiding recovery of surgical procedures The morning session on Thursday culminated in the Andrew Blake Tribute Award winning paper given by John Waters In the opinion of the judges John s paper Time for change Practicalities of implementing nonaversive methods for handling mice certainly fulfilled the criteria of the award by making a significant contribution to improving laboratory animal welfare John was presented with a glass plaque and a cheque for 250 at the close of Congress by Sally Robinson of the ABPI who generously took on the sponsorship of the award from this year John Waters 25

26 June 2017 Bulletin John Waters presenting the Andrew Blake Tribute Award winning poster Thursday afternoon saw a further paper session leading up to the poster presentations This is an opportunity for a selection of poster authors to discuss their posters further and to answer questions from the audience It is a popular session and often seen as a first step towards making a full platform presentation Four authors gave presentations on their posters and there were a total of 30 posters on display Authors were on Peter Paccagnini on A method for repeated dosing of juvenile mice via oral gavage

Bulletin June 2017 27 hand to talk about their posters on both Wednesday and Thursday and lots of discussions took place with delegates finding out more about the work detailed in the posters Hans van Wijk on Advances in welfare and scientific outcomes of the bile duct cannulated rat model utilised in absorption distribution metabolism and excretion ADME studies The IAT are very grateful to LBS Serving Biotechnology for their continued sponsorship of the Best Poster Prize which this year went to Sam Levent for her poster Rabbit pens or cages does the housing influence enrichment preferences Sam was presented with a cheque for 200 at the close of Congress Posters are judged on content clarity and quality of science as well as improvement in animal welfare innovation ease of replication or work presentation and layout We are indebted to Jas Barley and Robert Weichbrod for their thorough and thoughtful judging of this award Tim Jones on Ultrasonic vocalisation as a measure of positive welfare in rats Katherine Marshall on Creatively meeting the standards taking rabbit housing to the next level

Bulletin June 2017 Sam Melvin from University of Cambridge Lynda Westall from Sanger Institute Chas Bailey from GSK Annabelle Christi from Charles River John Holmes from Envigo Emma Birt from Envigo 29

30 June 2017 Bulletin The Scientific Programme concluded with the Kevin Dolan Memorial Lecture which was delivered this year by Dr Julie Keeble who is the Named Training and Competency Officer NTCO and a lecturer in Pharmacology at King s College London Julie is also the Chief Scientist for the International Space School Educational Trust ISSET Animals that are out of this world was the title of Julie s presentation and it gave a fascinating insight into how research is taking place aboard the International Space Station and a historical review of how animals have been part of space exploration over many years Julie Keeble delivering the Kevin Dolan Memorial Lecture entitled Animals that are out of this world Emma Vacca receiving her First Time Presenter Prize from Roy Sutcliffe Marshall BioResources

Bulletin June 2017 31 Samantha Levent receiving the Best Poster Prize from Elaine Kirkum LBS Serving Biotechnology IAT Journal Article Award presented to Tania Boden centre and Penny Hawkins left by Jas Barley Editor of ATW

Bulletin June 2017 33 Laura Dean collecting the Janet Wood Innovation Award from Jonathon Wood of Datesand on behalf of Lisa Doar the winner who unfortunately could not attend see pages 51 53 for a full account of their Award Katherine Marshall centre AAALAC Fellowship recipient with IAT Vice Presidents Gail Thompson and Robert Weichbrod

34 June 2017 Bulletin For the first time at Congress 2017 we offered a Congress App This provided delegates with a personal planner details of exhibitors information about workshops and presentations a social feed and lead scanning for exhibitors We have been delighted with the level of engagement and the feedback we have received We will continue Checking out the App at Check in to develop the App for future years as we continue to enhance the delegate experience at Congress Lunch is served The IAT wish to extend their sincere thanks to the trade exhibitors who attended Congress 2017 for their continued support Forty four companies exhibited in the Trade Hall and all aspects of the Industry were represented from diet suppliers and cage manufacturers to education providers The opening of trade took place on Tuesday evening and the Exhibition Hall was laid out to allow the serving of both meals and coffee breaks within the space throughout Congress Trade exhibitors offer various competitions on their stands and there was also a Walking Competition run in aid of AS ET to see who walked the furthest during Congress The Trade Passport competition also ran with two i Pads as prizes one for first time attendees and one open for all delegates Delegates simply collected signatures from trade exhibitors and the lucky winners were drawn at random see page 50 announcing the two winners

Bulletin Animal Care Systems June 2017 CLAST LBS Marshall Bioresources Impex IAT 35

Bulletin June 2017 37 The London Branch ran the Charity Raffle which this year was raising funds for AS ET Each Branch donates a prize and tickets are on sale throughout Congress raising 1000 Branch Charity Raffle prizes By very popular demand a Quiz generously sponsored by Tecniplast UK was held following dinner on Wednesday evening Market Stall style food was served with delegates able to choose from paella curry hamburgers and hot dogs Once everyone had eaten preparations were made for the Quiz Ken Applebee was the Quiz Master and selected some very ingenious questions Two marathon rounds were included one naming animals from obscure pictures and the other involving wine and bar snacks Possibly the hardest questions involved the flavours of the snacks which were made from pasta for those who didn t know and no one guessed Chianti and Olive possibly because it tasted nothing like it It was a thoroughly enjoyable evening attended by the majority of delegates which ended in a tie break situation Ken asked a tie break question of how many animals were recorded in the London Zoo census taken in January 2017 The winning team were awarded a case of Prosecco and the runners up received gold chocolate bunnies The team with the least points received all the left over unopened packs of bar snacks It was a very entertaining evening and was followed by a disco until the early hours

38 June 2017 Bulletin Wednesday evening dinner and Quiz Congress ended with the traditional Gala Dinner with entertainment by Abba s Angels The band got off to a slow start with delegates reluctant to get on the dance floor but by the second set the dance floor was full and everyone was singing along to all the Abba hits and saying thank you for the music Abba s Angels

Bulletin June 2017 39 Dancing at the Dinner Dance Thank you for the Music Delegates departed on Friday morning having had a hearty breakfast and saying farewell to friends old and new and an excellent conference venue A big thank you to the 440 who attended for your support good humour and participation and we look forward to welcoming you again for Congress 2018 Plans are already in hand so come along and make sure that 2018 is as successful as 2017

Congress 2017 Album Part 1 No excuses to be late or miss out on any of the packed programme with these three Congress aids

All ready and organised for the Congress delegates arrival Getting to know you at the Icebreaker and it was also Charley s birthday

Bulletin June 2017 43 Patron Professor Lord Naren Patel KT Chair of Trustees Professor Sir Richard Gardner FIAT Hon FRS Secretary to the Trust Ken Applebee OBE FIAT FRSB Trustees Stephen Barnett MSc Hon FRSB Jasmine Barley MSc FIAT Karen J Gardner Registered Charity Number 113319 Registered Office 5 South Parade Summertown Oxford OX2 7JL Didn t we have a lovely time There used to be a song about a lovely time in Bangor well we were not in Bangor but it was Wales and we did have lovely time Where was AS ET this time IAT Congress 2017 of course Congress is an extremely important event both for the Institute and also for AS ET It is an opportunity not only to meet animal technologists but also because everyone is extremely generous helping to boost the funds which means that we can help more technologists with their education Animal technologists are the reason AS ET exists and without the funds our supporters raise the charity wouldn t be able to carry on its work This year s Congress proved to be no exception when it came to fundraising and special thanks must go to Maggie Skeoch whose energy in fundraising is amazing makes me feel exhausted just watching her This year she raised over 400 by persuading folk to sponsor her to dye her hair either green pink or purple In the end she used all three colours and as you can see from this photograph the results were outstanding and extremely attractive Our thanks to everyone who donated money for this

44 June 2017 Bulletin Toby Sanders from Agenda organised a steps competition sponsored by Agenda and Allentown which involved the wearing of a pedometer throughout Congress to record how many steps delegates achieved with a prize of a FitBit for the most active delegate no I didn t know what it was either Participating delegates made a donation of a minimum of 2 which AS ET received and they got to keep the pedometer AS ET also received the income from the Congress branch charity raffle organised this year by the London branch raising 1000 and for the sixth year running benefitted from the Trade Passport competition with a further donation for 423 You can see that it is not just the trustees that believe that animal technologists education matters What else does AS ET presence at Congress achieve other than raising funds Well firstly it gives us the opportunity to draw delegates attention to the availability of bursaries for course fees travel and accommodation AS ET can also assist in supporting students with special needs We have provided funding to develop teaching packages supporting the developments of course material including handbooks and DVDS as well as supporting the development of web based learning To date this year we have been able to commit almost 27 000 in the form of bursaries and prizes which would not have been possible without the monies raised by our supporters Congress also enables us to meet some of the people who received bursaries to complete courses Present at Congress was Micah Dupont who won the Congress Bursary prize this year We were delighted to see that she was taking full benefit from attending and her report will appear in a later issue of the Bulletin Jas Barley Micah being congratulated by Ken on her achievement in winning the Congress Bursary essay competition

Bulletin June 2017 45 AS ET is a charity to advance education and promote excellence in the care and welfare of animals used in science Sponsors of AS ET are listed below and to find out more please visit the website www as et org uk

Congress 2017 Album Part 2 Shannon obviously planned a sensible night at the Trade Reception yes it s water not gin The buffet was great too As did Dan at Sychem and Colford from KCL Bridgett from UCL and friends checking out the IPS stand And many congratulations to Tecniplast UK

Beckie and Sam from The Pirbright Institute eyeing the Learning Curve Development stand Adrian from Ellegaards talking with Jayson Zhu and colleague our exhibitors from China celebrating their 20th Anniversary this year

50 June 2017 Bulletin Trade Passport Competition Once again the Passport Competition was very successful as 38 exhibitors took part by agreeing to pay a small fee for including their logo which required a signature from the delegates who participated The Congress Committee placed a Passport in each and every delegate bag and the response was fantastic Over 50 completed entries were received which were put into 2 prizewinning draws the 1st only for delegates attending Congress for the first time and the 2nd was open to everyone This year s winners were Rhian James from Sequani and Richard Collins from the Sanger Institute who were both really pleased to win their prizes Each received an Apple iPad mini Rhian said I was so glad I entered the Passport competition being my first experience of an IAT Congress It was a great way to ensure I d see all the trade show had to offer and a great opportunity to meet people winning was just an added bonus Entering was so easy and completely worth it I love my new iPad thanks Richard said I m quite a social person so I had great fun going round talking to everyone especially the smaller companies I had not dealt with before This Passport competition is a great way to meet and talk to companies I wouldn t necessarily come across I never thought I d win but I was collecting signatures right up until the deadline and luckily enough I won I was a little bit surprised to get the phone call and thought it was a joke A friend who suggested we do it was ever so slightly jealous of my prize Not only does this competition offer these two great prizes but it also helps support AS ET and this year the exhibitors donation after costs was 423 00 Many thanks to everyone who took part in the competition and especially to all the exhibiting companies whose generous support allows this competition to happen each year

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Congress 2017 Album Part 3 David Thomson University of Strathclyde presenting his paper on Wednesday Gemma Forrest Cancer Research UK attended her poster Norman Mortell from Agenda presenting his paper on Thursday afternoon Poster time for Peter Roe University of Bristol and colleagues As did Tracy Benford Public Health England and

Louise Carder from The Pirbright Institute Andy Dickinson Surrey Diagnostics managed to man both his posters and his exhibition stand Rob Weichbrod conversing with Dimitra Mantazorou from KCL about hers Andrew Smith 3D Fuels discussing his own novel scanning technology

Bulletin June 2017 Paterson Building fire 26th April Dear All On behalf of all our colleagues based at the Paterson Building including the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute and other scientists from The University of Manchester we would like to send a huge thank you for all your help and for all the offers of help relating to the devastating fire that occurred here on the 26th April The following day our mice approximately 1 100 cages were safely transported to the Biological Services Facility at The University of Manchester and all transferred to clean IVC cages This was completed within 36 hours of the fire starting and no animals suffered as a direct result of the fire It is also an opportunity to thank those that helped us especially the whole of the BSF team and Datesand Ltd providing both transport and drivers Nick Lloyd and the company CEO Jonathon Wood It was humbling to hear how many of you had been in touch to offer help and to enquire about the welfare of the mice Knowing that we have so much support out there is of great comfort to everyone here as we start on the road to recovery Stuart Pepper and Caroline Wilkinson Chief Laboratory Officer Chief Operating Officer and ELH CRUK Manchester Institute 57

58 June 2017 Bulletin Cambridge Branch Spring Hygiene Seminar T he Cambridge Branch held their first Spring Hygiene Seminar on 6th April 2017 The event was well attended by over 30 Service Area Technicians from 11 different facilities over Cambridgeshire We recognise this group to be absolutely vital to the effective efficient and compliant running of our animal facilities We also recognise they are not sufficiently catered for regarding educational and networking opportunities as local Animal Technicians are and felt this to be a serious omission we could help rectify The seminar led by Alan Abbatt and Ina Haake of Dr Weigert covered a wide range of topics concerning the management of hygiene in animal facilities and was pitched at all members of staff from the new to it to the very experienced We were given a history of the company and learnt that Dr Walter Weigert himself discovered the first bleaching solution for laundry use and founded his chemical factory in 1912 in Hamburg The company now employs around 250 people and develops produces a vast amount of products to meet specific customer needs We looked at the importance of achieving hygiene not just in our industry but also in hospitals and catering and considered

Bulletin June 2017 59 how cleaning products should be adapted to the circumstances they will be used in for example what is being cleaned are any pre cleaning processes used what cleaning equipment machinery are used water quality tap softened de ionised dosing of the cleaning products rinse cycles disposal of the waste water and what processes the cages might go through after cleaning e g autoclaving It is imperative to ensure that all of the above processes are as compatible as possible particularly when it comes to cleaning laboratory animal caging and considering the various different types of plastics used Any incompatibilities can cause serious problems such as hazing cracks or deformation We saw some good pictorial examples of these Once this kind of damage has occurred it cannot usually be reversed meaning that caging will need to be replaced This makes it vital to take all factors into consideration especially after purchasing new caging Aside from cages stainless steel racking and bottle drinkers can also be prone to corrosion pitting and rusting if all aspects of the cleaning process are not considered The German Working Group for Cage Processing in Animal Facilities released their 5th issue of their brochure last year which can be found here http www felasa eu announcements new cage processing in animal facilities brochure The workshop was very informative and with an opportunity to ask lots of questions an interesting discussion about the causes and remedies for red slime was overheard at the end of the seminar The take home message is that if you do see damage and corrosion on your caging and racking this isn t inevitable and you should be able to review and adapt your processes to prevent it happening With many thanks to Alan and Ina for their time and sharing their valuable knowledge and experience with us Sarah Stone and Theresa Langford IAT Cambridge Branch

Congress 2017 Album Part 4 Great moves on the dance floor Jenny Parks winner of the Step competition with sponsors Nathan from Allentown and Toby from Agenda Smiles all round from the AstraZeneca team

Huge smiles from Brian Foley and Kieran McManamon from the University of Cork Lechyd da that s cheers in Welsh to John and Linda And what it s all about celebrating our Caring Career and Institute Adrian Woodhouse IAT Council and Laura Scullion Hall University of Stirling with the IAT brochure

Bulletin June 2017 DIARY Dates 26 June 7 July International Course in Laboratory Animal Science Utrecht Details from las uu nl 6 September LASA 3Rs UFAW Planning and Implementing the 3Rs South of England Details from www lasa co uk meetings 30 June BRET Closing date for proposals Details from bretenquiries btinternet com 20 September Tecniplast Foundation Course in Tecniplast IVC s Central UK Details from info tecniplastuk com 21 July West Middlesex River Thames Sundowner Cruise London Details from julie bee crick ac uk 25 July Named Information Officer Workshop London Details from info learningcurvedevelopment co uk 20 22 September Tecniplast Technician Symposium Details from info tecniplastuk com 15 November Tecniplast IVC Knowledge and Skills Refresher Course Central UK Details from info tecniplastuk com 31 July PMI European Technician 2017 Award Closing date for applications See page 16 Cover photo Professor Paul Flecknell receiving Honorary Fellowship from Robin Lovell Badge IAT President 63