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Institute of Animal Technology Bulletin G G G Ken Writes Congress 2017 Suppliers Register G G G Branch News Situations Vacant Diary Dates Vol 52 No 9 September 2016

Bulletin Vol 52 No 9 September 2016 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 CONTENTS Ken Writes Congress 2017 5 7 11 20 21 RAnTech and NACWO Workshop 13 Andrew Blake Tribute Award 14 15 AS ET 18 19 Suppliers Register i xliv Branch News 23 29 ISSN 0263 2861 For enquiries other than Bulletin related contact IAT ADMINISTRATOR admin iat org uk or 0800 085 4380 Final copy date for November Bulletin 1st October The opinions expressed in the Bulletin do not necessarily reflect those of the Editor or the Institute Technician Training Day Situations Vacant Diary Dates 31 37 38 39

Bulletin September 2016 5 Ken Writes O ne of my ongoing concerns is the very low number of active Fellows in the Institute This is a multi factorial problem but primarily stems from the lack of a first degree qualification Level 6 in Laboratory Animal Science and Technology This particular issue has now been resolved with the establishment of CLAST as the provider of Higher Education for animal technologists see http www clast org uk Reflecting these changes in the IAT qualifications it has become necessary to review the application process for Fellowship of the Institute Members achieving the Level 6 IAT Diploma in Laboratory Animal Science and Technology or a BSc in Laboratory Animal Science via Middlesex University and subject to the normal membership requirements are eligible to apply for election to Fellowship Fellowship applications will be treated in the same manner as those for Membership i e submitted to Council for approval twice a year May and September Previously there was an application fee for election to Fellowship but Council unanimously agreed that this fee should no longer apply A Congress Trade meeting was held for representatives of exhibiting companies prior to the July Council meeting An overview and feedback from Congress 2016 was provided including the results from the delegate survey along with an opportunity for trade representatives to also provide feedback and raise any issues Broad details for Congress 2017 were also provided Trade representatives stated that they were very impressed by the increased activity of several of the IAT Branches in particular their Trade Days On 24th May the Board of Educational Policy BEP received a letter from DfBIS Department for Business Innovation Skills cancelling the current Level 2 Apprenticeship All current students and those enrolling up to the end of November 2016 will be allowed to complete their Apprenticeship At the end of June an Expression of interest for the new Trailblazers Level 2 Apprenticeship was submitted to DfBIS Confidence of acceptance is very high and work has already begun on the next phase of the assessment process The application is being sponsored by additional support from the MRC Application paperwork for the Trailblazers Level 3 Apprenticeship has been submitted to DfBIS A one day meeting for RAnTechs and NACWOs will be held on Wednesday 12th October 2016 Further details are available on the IAT website see http www iat org uk nacwo cd80

Bulletin September 2016 7 Haley Daniels has been appointed as the IAT Diversity Officer The first duty of this post will be to examine the IAT s procedures and policies to ensure they are compliant and easily accessible Following discussion it was agreed by Council that the contract with PLMR should not be extended PLMR have been instrumental in promoting and establishing the IAT Career Pathway but Council now felt it was time to explore different options for promoting the IAT and our activities especially regarding the use of electronic social media There was discussion as to the succession planning for the senior posts on the IAT Council Current post holders were charged with identifying a suitable and willing deputy who can shadow the present incumbent to ensure knowledge and understanding of the roles is not lost It was reported that the UK winner of the AAALAC Fellowship award for 2016 is Stephen Woodley Site Manager at King s College London Stephen will visit the USA in October November 2016 spending time at various organisations and then attending AALAS Council passed on their congratulations to Stephen on winning this wonderful award It was announced that the annual AS ET Special Lecture will take place on Wednesday 19th October in London The lecture will then be repeated in Manchester on 30 November at 6pm Further details will appear in the Bulletin and on the IAT and AS ET websites Ken s view I would like again to return to succession planning on IAT Council While few people like to admit that they are no longer quite as young as they once were even though they may act it on occasion it is essential that all organisations plan for the future and that includes Council While current Council members can take the necessary steps to plan for the future ultimately it s the injection of new and indeed younger members which will continue to drive the IAT forward Therefore I urge all Members and Fellows of the Institute to consider if they can spare some time to serve on Council thus helping to ensure that animal technologists who enter the profession now continue to enjoy the educational and other benefits provided by the IAT which has supported us during our careers Ken Applebee Chair IAT Council July 2016

IF YOU ATTEND ONLY ONE CONFERENCE NEXT YEAR Make it this one Delegate registrations open ONLINE Monday 12th September Congress has a reputation for delivering a Quality Agenda The Scientific Programme promises to focus on issues and practices impacting on both your animals and your working needs Through the variety of Workshops Papers and Posters you will gain essential knowledge and be able to network with our industry s innovators Early bird cut off date Sunday 18th December If you do not have a hard copy of the Invitation Booklet download it at http www iat org uk congressc16th To discuss any aspect of Congress with the Congress Committee or if you have any questions email congress iat org uk Check for updates www iat org uk

18 September 2016 Bulletin AS ET News G G G AS ET Special Travel Bursary We are very pleased to announce the winner of the 2016 Special Travel Bursary Competition is Jessica Wood of Oxford University We would like to congratulate Jessica and thank all of the entrants for taking part in the competition You can read the submitted essays in forthcoming editions of the IAT Journal Animal Technology and Welfare AS ET IAT West Middlesex Prize for the Level 4 Higher Education Diploma has been awarded to Michelle Warburton and the AS ET Tecniplast Prize for the Level 5 Higher Education Diploma has been awarded to James Bussell We would like to congratulate Michelle and James on the high standard of work they have achieved throughout their courses The AS ET Annual Lecture will take place at King s College Guy s Campus London on 19th October This year s speaker is Professor Robin Lovell Badge FRS and the title of his presentation is Editing the genomes of animals and humans where to draw the line The talk will be repeated at Manchester University at 6pm on 30th November Both presentations will start at 6pm Tickets cost 25 and includes the wine reception that follows the lecture Tickets can be reserved at contact as et org uk

Bulletin September 2016 19 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

Established 1926 RSPCA UFAW 23rd Rodent and Rabbit Welfare Group Meeting 2016 The RSPCA UFAW Rodent and Rabbit Welfare Group bring together people from a range of backgrounds with a common interest in the behaviour and welfare of laboratory rodents and rabbits The Group s 23rd annual meeting will be held on Tuesday 1 November 2016 in Edinburgh There will be presentations and posters on refining husbandry and procedures and the biology of rodents and rabbits The registration cost for the meeting is 80 which covers lunch and refreshments We have been awarded 4 IAT CPD points and 5 LASA CPD points for the meeting If you would like to register please contact the RSPCA at the address below or use the following link https goo gl forms fYUrE8Wi4Ds4po0v2 Penny Hawkins research animals rspca org uk

Bulletin September 2016 23 A Year in the Life of the IAT London Branch I t has been a busy year for the IAT London Branch with the new branch committee all working hard to revive the branch and encourage members to get out and about to both social and educational events As well as several informal socials at various pubs across the capital the branch has organised three outings over the last year educational with a slight sporting theme but all entertaining in one way or another Excursion to the Royal Veterinary College Hawkshead The Royal Veterinary College or RVC is the largest and longest established veterinary school in the English speaking world and has grown considerably since its very first students started in January of 1792 As well as providing world class tuition in veterinary medicine and animal sciences the RVC is also a leading veterinary research centre producing work of an international quality and attracting hundreds of aspiring young scientists every year As with any research facility that depends on animal models as the basis for their research the RVC has its own stock of critters As well as housing transgenic mice the RVC animal facility holds chickens sheep horses and even dogs The IAT London Branch was fortunate enough to be invited for a tour around the large RVC animal facility at Hawkshead in Potter s Bar It was a fantastically warm and sunny summer s day when the occasion finally rolled around and everyone gathered at the Tavistock Hotel bar near UCL at 4pm for some quick refreshments before setting off on the journey up to Potter s Bar We were in for a treat too our very kind sponsors from IPS and Impex Services had laid on an old school RouteMaster double decker bus to

24 September 2016 Bulletin ferry us up to the Hawkshead campus Perhaps what we didn t consider was the inevitable London rush hour traffic and our journey turned into something of an epic 90 minute trek On arriving at our destination our bus driver then had to navigate weak narrow bridges and massively overgrown hedges the latter of which seemed intent on gouging the paint off the side of the bus The bus driver was less than impressed The manager of the RVC Hawkshead facility Fiona Reynolds was waiting to greet us upon arrival and showed us into a reception room for coffee biscuits and a brief introduction to the RVC and what we could expect from the visit The tour started with a look around the Welfare Barn a fascinating building comprising several separate rooms capable of precisely controlled and defined environmental parameters Some areas under investigation were whether factors such as artificial lighting aerial pollutants and noise levels at those experienced in commercial practice could adversely affect sensory perception social communication behaviour stress and health of weaned pigs or laying hens Next it was on to visit the resident herd of sheep most of which were being used to study various orthopaedic ailments and surgical treatments We then moved on to what can only be described as the undeniable showstopper of our trip the colony of beagles being used to study muscular dystrophy The 22 strong colony of dogs now almost completely on a beagle background was originally founded by crossing a Bichon Frise and a Cavalier King Charles Spaniel with the original founders carrying a mutation that produced a type of muscular dystrophy in the animals We were allowed into their large outdoor grass run and were promptly mobbed by the excited and playful dogs It was rather difficult to persuade our members to leave the enclosure with several people having to be checked for stowaways Last but not least was a sneak peek inside the Structure and Motion Laboratory where we were shown the most unusual centrifuge any of us had ever seen Each of the four arms of the centrifuge held a compartment at the end with a rodent cage inside each compartment At the time we visited the cages were empty however when in use each of the compartments would have its own light cycle and air supply and could be rotated slowly with the aim of studying the effects of different g force accelerations on muscle structure and growth

Bulletin September 2016 25 At the conclusion of the tour we all extended our thanks to Fiona for the insightful tour and headed off to the nearby Old Manor pub for drinks and snacks where several of our members continued to plot how best to kidnap adopt some of the RVC beagles The trip was both fascinating and relevant to us as animal technicians and we are very grateful to the RVC for allowing us this opportunity Ping Pong Tournament Bounce Farringdon Heading out for a night of ping pong might not seem like the most obvious choice for an evening s entertainment but then again the London Branch likes to do things differently Bounce is a concept that combines three elements of hospitality bar restaurant and entertainment activity all set against the backdrop of a slick well designed venue Bounce Farringdon the flagship venue of this enterprise has established itself as one of London s most talked about venues and has even hosted games for celebrities such as Gwyneth Paltrow and Kevin Spacey to name two On a cool Autumn evening a 30 strong group from the IAT London Branch ventured out to this hip venue where we were met by our allocated Bounce Games Guru This person s job was to organise us into teams and oversee each

Bulletin September 2016 27 match within the tournament as well as encourage the more reluctant players to get involved The variety of matches was good with the more traditional singles and doubles games being interspersed with slightly wackier group games some of which involved running around the ping pong table while attempting to hit the ball or manoeuvring the ball with straws As the evening progressed and the consumption of liquid refreshments continued it was interesting to see how some people s performance and coordination actually improved while others simply fell to pieces The winning team trophy was finally claimed by a team from UCL Barry Warburton Rebecca Towns Tony Jenkins and Gabi Sturges It was certainly an unusual and amusing way to spend the evening Special thanks to North Kent Plastics for kindly sponsoring this event

28 September 2016 Bulletin Pint of Science Tamesis Dock In 2012 two research scientists organised an event called Meet the Researchers which brought people affected by various neurological conditions into their labs to show them the kind of research they do It was inspirational for both the visitors and the researchers and they thought if people want to come into laboratories to meet scientists why not bring the scientists out to the people Better yet why not combine discussions about science with a relaxed and informal setting where people can also enjoy a drink or two And so Pint of Science was born with hundreds of talks being organised across the country and in a multitude of pubs during the month of May each year A small group from the IAT London branch headed out to listen to some of these talks at Tamesis Dock a converted 1930s Dutch barge permanently moored between Lambeth Bridge and Vauxhall Bridge First up was Dr Nick Oliver who discussed Type 1 diabetes and how the artificial pancreas represents an exciting piece of technology that can help to keep blood glucose in or near to the non diabetic range Following this talk there was a break and a quick pub quiz to test how much or how little we all knew about science and medicine in general The second talk entitled The Secret Dream World of Anaesthesia was given by Dr Nicoletta Nicolau from Imperial College London and took a look at whether we are really asleep

Bulletin September 2016 29 during surgery and how markers such as heart rate pulse and brain activity can help anaesthetists monitor patients It was a unique and interesting evening with a diverse mix of scientists and non scientists attending and the venue itself was nothing if not quirky Gabrielle Sturges Social Events Team Branch Reporter

Bulletin September 2016 31 Free one day event to be held on Tuesday 15th November 2016 Dundee Topics include the NTCO role the importance of training Personal Licencee handling assessment and Animal Enrichment Confirmed presenters Drs Kathy Ryder Norman Flynn ASRU Home Office Inspectors Tim Betts Scottish Accreditation Board Gerry Creighton Operations Manager Dublin Zoo Gordon Gray University of Glasgow Tina O Mahoney Imperial College London Maxine Sheridan Knowles University of Leicester Details from d wallace abdn ac uk Kindly sponsored by Edinburgh and West of Scotland IAT Branches

Bulletin September 2016 Board of Moderators Online registration for IAT courses The Board of Moderators is pleased to announce that the online registration and instructions on how to enrol for IAT Levels 2 and 3 courses is now available on the IAT website www iat org uk This information can be found on the education section using the link provided and will replace the current paper version C Godfrey Chair Board Moderators August 2016 33

Bulletin September 2016 IAT HERTS ESSEX BRANCH Thursday 27th October 7pm for 7 30pm 9 30pm Location Ware Hertfordshire Prizes Raffle Buffet Teams of up to five 2 per person For tickets please contact hertsandessexsecretary hotmail co uk Kindly sponsored by 35

Bulletin September 2016 DIARY Dates 27 28 September LAVA BSTP Joint Meeting Infectious Diseases in Laboratory Animals Nottingham Details from e ross har mrc ac uk 12 October RAnTech NACWO Workshop Birmingham Details from admin iat org uk See page 9 14 October ABTA closing date Details from admin iat org uk See page 14 15 October NEE Branch Animal Inside Out Exhibition Newcastle Details from iatnortheastbranch hotmail co uk See page 22 19 October AS ET Special Lecture London Details from contact as et org uk See page18 27 October Herts Essex Quiz Night Hertfordshire Details from hertsandessexsecretary hotmail co uk See page 35 Cover photo Black Swans Alan Graham 30 October 3 November AALAS Charlotte North Carolina Details from www aalas org 1 November RSPCA UFAW 23rd Rodent and Rabbit Welfare Group Meeting Edinburgh See page 21 11 November Congress 2017 Closing date for Papers and Workshops Details from congress iat org uk See page 20 15 November Technician Training Day Dundee Details from d wallace abdn ac uk See page 31 16 November Cambridge and HNS 10th Year Anniversary Joint Autumn Symposium All Creatures Great and Small Details from cambridgebranch iat org uk 22 24 November LASA Annual Conference Details from info lasa co uk 39