Return to flip book view

Institute of Animal Technology Bulletin G G G G Sino British Seminar Congress 2016 Pain Workshop Report AS ET G G G G Three Minute Interview Branch News Situations Vacant Diary Dates Vol 51 No 9 September 2015

Bulletin Vol 51 No 9 September 2015 EDITOR Sarah Lane bulletineditor iat org uk ASSISTANT EDITOR Carole Wilson bulletinassistant iat org uk ADVERTISEMENT MANAGERS PRC Associates Ltd mail prcassoc co uk CONTENTS Sino British Second International Seminar Report 5 11 Congress 2016 12 13 Pain Workshop Report 15 19 Suppliers Register i xliv ISSN 0263 2861 Three Minute Interview 27 29 For enquiries other than Bulletin related contact IAT ADMINISTRATOR admin iat org uk or 0800 085 4380 AS ET 30 31 Branch News 36 40 Situations Vacant 41 42 Published monthly by the Institute of Animal Technology Registered Office 5 South Parade Summertown Oxford OX2 7JL 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 Diary Dates 43

Bulletin September 2015 5 Sino British Second International Seminar on Laboratory Animal Welfare and Ethics Beijing China 17th 19th March 2015 I n the winter of 2014 I was approached by the Home Office to see if I would be willing to attend an Animal Welfare and Ethics Seminar in Beijing and make two presentations The meeting was to be held at the same time as the IAT Congress and so as Assistant Treasurer and after consulting with IAT Council I agreed and accepted the invitation which was the easy bit This was to be the second seminar held between the Home Office and China s research community and was underpinned with funding from the UK Government As you may be aware China is a growing market for scientific research and testing using animals but their animal legislation and animal welfare and ethical review are in their formative years The UK Government recognises the benefit of helping China develop its legislation and welfare standards by means of holding these seminars They are designed to give advice and guidance on aspects of animal welfare based on UK experience and

6 September 2015 Bulletin practical implementation allowing the Chinese to question their experiences and to allow their experts to develop their own standards and legislation This will hopefully lead to both countries working more closely in animal research and having more compatible standards of animal welfare and ethical use This will of course lead to increased opportunities for collaboration between our two countries as well as removing some barriers to trade These seminars have been initiated by Dr Judy MacArthur Clark CBE Head of the Animals in Science Regulation Unit ASRU Home Office working closely with the Chinese Association for Laboratory Animal Sciences CALAS The Home Office wanted me to present on two topics 1 approaches to standardisation in animal research and 2 improving quality through training Both were to be approached from a practical perspective with a view to implementation Other than that I was free to develop my own ideas on these subjects The presentations would be given in English and simultaneously translated into Chinese I also had to prepare my presentation slides by the end of January and send them to the UK Embassy in Beijing as both PowerPoint presentations would also be translated and simultaneously displayed in both languages I found this quite difficult as like most presenters I usually make changes to my presentation right up to the last day but in this case I had to complete them two months in advance and stick to what I had written I flew out with three colleagues from the Home Office on the evening of 14th March landing in Beijing the following day The first thing that hits you about China is the size of it all the airports the roads and the amount of people it is vast We were taken to the YuLong Hotel where the seminar would be held and this would be our base throughout our visit As is standard in China English is not commonly spoken and communicating in the hotel or for that matter anywhere else was a challenge and trying to speak the local language was an even greater challenge So resorting to good old fashioned pointing miming and drawing became my way of communication for the next week That evening we were met by a number of CALAS organisers who had arranged a special dinner in our honour This meal included local delicacies such as cold pig s trotters and fish heads in chilli and noodles with of course the dreaded chop sticks I can now even eat a fried egg with chop sticks This was an enjoyable meal and to my surprise ignorance we never had any rice Asking our host about this we were informed that rice is a dish more common in the south of China and as we were in the north we would see more noodles

Bulletin September 2015 7 On the 16th March the Home Office had a number of meetings with their counterparts and with representatives from CALAS This gave me a free day and after talking to my host was recommended to visit the Summer Palace So after half an hour of gesticulating with the counter staff at the hotel given a local map and the address of the hotel in Chinese essential if you get lost and want to get a taxi back I set off for the nearest underground station which was luckily right next to the hotel Beijing is big 54 million people live in the city there are 11 million cars on the road you can only drive your car for 6 days in any one week and a number on the licence plate tells you which day you can t drive It is one big traffic jam and it takes a long time to drive anywhere which explains the smog so underground trains are the only real way to travel Tuesday 17th March 2015 Delegates were invited to a site visit of Novo Nordisk and Vital River Laboratories VRL a new joint venture with Charles River Laboratories CRL As spaces were limited this was only available to Chinese delegates

Bulletin September 2015 9 The presenters got the chance to visit the hall and check their presentations on the screens and in some cases do emergency repairs due to translation issues In the evening we were invited to the Opening Reception at the British Ambassador s Residence with wine and a finger buffet This was a very relaxed event designed to help networking and I had a number of opportunities to meet and discuss animal research with Chinese delegates This resulted in the exchange of business cards which has to be done in a certain fashion so as not to offend A card is presented and received using both hands the recipient then reads the card carefully and then asks a question concerning the card You do not just put the card into your pocket as this can be seen as insulting I can also report I never saw a tray of Ferrero Rocher whilst on the Embassy grounds Wednesday 18th March 2015 Day two of the meeting was when the real work began 200 delegates were in attendance and each had a named seat in the hall The meeting was opened by the joint chairs of the meeting Professor Qui Chan and Dr Judy MacArthur Clark as well as the VIP speaker Dr Jia Jingdun who is Director General of the Ministry of Science and Technology Group photos were then taken before the main presentations began Session 1 Consideration for the Ethical Review Process Anaesthesia and analgesia regimes are they good enough Presented by Kathy Murphy and Jianfei Wang Have the 3Rs and alternatives been effectively explored Presented by Adrian Smith Benefits of enriched housing refined procedures and training Presented by Jan Lund Ottesen Defining and applying humane endpoints Presented by Kathy Murphy Harm benefit analysis getting the balance right Presented by Rick Carver Session 2 Practical Scenarios for the ethical review process The delegates were split into groups were given basic project licence applications and asked to ethically review them whilst the presenters roamed the room answering questions and offering advice The feedback session which followed was very lively and it was interesting to note that Chinese ethical reviewers came up with the same ethical questions and challenges as their UK counterparts Session 3 National Welfare and Ethics Standards for China The keynote address was Recent developments in setting laboratory animal welfare standards and regulations in China Presented by Sun Deming

10 September 2015 Bulletin Thursday 19th March 2015 Session 4 Standardisation or research animal operations for good or bad A practical approach to achieving standardisation and quality Presented by Glyn Fisher Standardisation behaviour and animal welfare Presented by Robert Hubrecht Laboratory animal health and welfare in research studies Presented by Karen Wang How can standardised reporting of animal research advance the 3Rs Presented by Adrian Smith General discussion of Session 4 Importance of standardisation Keynote address Current status and future trends on alternative methods in China Presented by Cheng Shujun Session 5 Achieving quality through accreditation inspection training and retrospective review Lessons learnt during AAALAC International site visits Presented by Kathryn Bayne Inspector friend or foe Working together for better science and better animal welfare Presented by Rick Carver Improving quality through training animal care staff Presented by Glyn Fisher Using retrospective review to create cycles of improvement Presented by Molly Greene General discussion of Session 5 Achieving quality Keynote address Update on the revision of the Chinese legislation for laboratory animal welfare and ethics Regulations for the Administration of Affairs Concerning Experimental Animals Presented by Yue Bingfei Closing comments and end of seminar Judy MacArthur Clark and Sun Deming I was pleasantly surprised by the attitude of the Chinese delegates at this meeting You could see how eager they were for information and how they wanted to embrace change as well I have no doubt that in a very short time the standards that already exist in China will be superseded by even better and stronger welfare standards and how they approach research work I had travelled half way round the world to be at this event and with the colourful history and culture it would have been remiss of me not to experience some of this so I added a few days at the end of the trip for my personal use

Bulletin September 2015 11 I spent a day visiting the Great Wall of China and managed to walk a few miles It is 6000 miles long don t you know I have to say if you ever get a chance to visit the Great Wall grab it with both hands words and pictures do not give it justice I also walked around a bit of the city and like everything in China it is the scale of things the Forbidden City Tiananmen Square and Chairman Mao s Mausoleum all of them are just enormous in real life For me one of the highlights was the National Museum of China the biggest building I have stood in The main hall was big enough to hold 4 football pitches and it would have taken several weeks to visit all the exhibits within I would like to personally thank the Home Office Embassy of China fellow presenters and of course Dr Judy MacArthur Clark for inviting me together with all the help and support I was given in China during the meeting plus of course King s College London for letting me go It was truly a wonderful experience Glyn Fisher FIAT RAnTech IAT Council

Online Registration opens Monday 14th September Come along and join us next March IAT Congress continues to outshine any other similar event for our industry prepare to be inspired Following delegate feedback we have exciting changes for 2016 Tuesday afternoon and ALL day Wednesday will be solely dedicated to Workshops Thursday is scientific papers day If you do not have a hard copy of the Invitation Booklet download it from the Congress dedicated weblink www iat org uk congress html Get involved join in and learn something new To discuss any aspect of Congress with the Congress Committee or if you have any questions email congress iat org uk Online Registration only for 2016

Bulletin September 2015 15 Workshop on Assessment Prevention and Alleviation of Pain and Distress in Laboratory Animals held on 20th to 22nd April 2015 T his is the 19th year that this very popular course was run with delegates from as far as Japan Luxembourg Germany and Holland attending The vast majority of the attendees were laboratory animal vets and we were two of three animal technologists Ken Applebee and I travelled by train from Kings Cross London to Newcastle on Sunday evening to make sure we were ready to tackle this very intense course bright and early on Monday morning We stayed in the recommended course hotel the Jury Inn Newcastle town centre and were transported by a prearranged and course provided taxi to Newcastle University Campus throughout the workshop After registering and receiving our info packs we were eager to start I think Ken was too but it is hard to tell sometimes DAY 1 Monday Course tutors were led by Professor Paul Flecknell who was more than ably assisted by Dr Johnny Roughan Dr Matt Leach Dr Claire Richardson and Dr Amy Miller All are experts in their fields Introduction The workshop started with explanations of what is pain an unpleasant sensory and emotional experience associated with actual or potential tissue damage or described in such terms of such damage and what is distress often described as an aversive negative state in which coping and adaptation processes fail to return an organism to physiological and or physiological homeostasis The workshop then moved on to the concepts of animal welfare and how it is multifaceted with physical psychological and naturalness all overlapping After a short break we went on to behavioural scoring of rats mice and rabbits Videos were shown of rats and mice and the delegates were asked to score the level of pain we thought they may be suffering and after some coaching most of us realised that you can miss certain signs if you look away to see what you are writing Therefore the best way is to just have a pad in front of you and just look and tick when you see signs of possible pain and

Bulletin September 2015 17 only look down and count up your observations when you have finished This was especially applicable with the rabbits as some scored one in pain which was merely asleep It was only when Matt slowed the video down in another assessment did we see the number of movements of a rabbit that was in pain These were so slight that we had missed them at normal speed I thoroughly enjoyed this part as I felt at the end of the day I had become far more proficient in recognising signs of pain and had gained a better understanding of pain assessment in both rodents and rabbits DAY 2 Tuesday The day started at 8 45am and the topic was pain faces what they are and why should we use them I had never just looked at the face of rodents when assessing pain we have always been taught to look at the whole animal when assessing I was amazed at how expressive the face is and how with a score picture in front of you Grimace scale I was able to assess the level of pain and the need for pain relief quite effectively There are key points to look at such as the shape and position of the ears how closed the eyes are orbital tightening cheek puffiness shape of the nose and whisker position We gave our observations scores from 0 2 i e 0 for not present 1 for moderate and 2 for obvious When we started this I think our observations were a bit mixed with some scores ranging from 1 5 which would be from virtually no pain to moderate severe I think we realised in the end not to over analyse and go with your first impressions this way we became more consistent in our scoring Again I think the benefits of this course are something that every animal technologist should have a chance to learn as only the very next day I returned to Kings was asked to assess a post surgery mouse where I had a chance to put into practice the scoring I learnt After lunch we had lectures on pain and nociception which were very informative explaining and comparing the way in the 16th Century reaction to pain stimuli was compared to how we today with modern drugs can block the pathways that deliver pain messages to the brain for example with local blocks or epidurals In the evening all course attendees and the tutors were invited to a lovely dinner at the Artisan Restaurant courtesy of Professor Paul Flecknell and his team where we had a chance to relax and talk with the other delegates DAY 3 Wednesday Today the main focus was analgesia and we started with the main groups

Bulletin September 2015 19 of analgesics G non steroidal anti inflammatory drugs NSAIDs such as Carprofen Ketoprofen Metacam and Rimadyl G opioids morphine like drugs such as morphine buprenorphine butorphanol G local anaesthetics such as lignocaine bupivacaine such as Emla cream G other agents such as tramadol alpha2 agonists e g Medetomidine gabapentin NMDA antagonists e g Ketamine We discussed the doses side effects and how the different strains are affected by analgesia so before a strain of mouse or rat is used it would be wise to do some research on the best analgesia for the strain you are using We were also advised on dosing and repeat dosing and how sometimes there is a ceiling affect and by giving more analgesia you may not be giving any more pain relief Finally we discussed the side effects and how by mixing certain drugs there are advantages i e lidocaine and bupivacaine and drug combinations i e local anaesthesia with buprenorpnine I personally found this workshop to be extremely informative and would recommend that every animal technologist takes time to learn pain scoring and the facial Grimace scale The three day workshop cost 675 which included three nights accommodation and course dinner on Tuesday which I felt was excellent value I have recommended to Ken that the Newcastle Pain Workshop becomes part of Kings Animal Technologist CPD programme I would like to thank Professor Paul Flecknell and his team for their generous hospitality time and enthusiasm for providing this excellent workshop which I would recommend to all NACWOs working with rodents and lagomorphs Jayne Morgan MIAT RAnTech Site Manager Biological Services King s College London

24 September 2015 Bulletin South African Veterinary Council and South African Association for Laboratory Animal Science recognise IAT Qualifications Dr Bert Mohr President of the South African Association for Laboratory Animal Science SAALAS writes The South African Veterinary Council SAVC who administer the veterinary laws in the country have agreed that persons who successfully complete the UK distance learning based IAT courses followed by competency based training modules in practical techniques at South African laboratory animal institutions SAALAS SAVC accredited training programmes will in future be able to register with the SAVC as Laboratory Animal Technologists This breakthrough has come after prolonged discussion between SAALAS and the SAVC SAALAS now plans to hold a Special Conference in Pretoria South Africa from 25 27 November 2015 in order to establish the education and training needs in the field of laboratory animal science in English speaking Southern Africa with a view to offering needs driven solutions locally The IAT courses would form a clear focus in this light in terms of technologist and NACWO training The IAT will be represented at this meeting along with FELASA ICLAS and the NC3Rs The IAT very much welcomes this news which has come after eight years of mutual cooperation and support between the IAT and SAALAS There are many individuals who have supported this initiative and this result is testament to their actions The IAT very much looks forward to working with both SAALAS and SAVC to help establish a clear career pathway for registered animal technologists in South Africa Ken Applebee Chair IAT Council August 2015

Bulletin September 2015 27 Three Minute Interview Name Adrian Woodhouse Job title NTCO Envigo Member of Council Describe yourself in 3 words Determined ambitious and caring What is your earliest memory My earliest memory was from when I was very young and I remember my sister giving me a Shaking Stevens single When you were at school what or who did you want to be and why I was always really keen on history and museums fascinated me I also grew up with Indiana Jones so you can only guess what my future looked like back then What was the first music album you bought I was young and easily influenced and my sister was into Brian Adams so embarrassingly his was my first album If you could have dinner with one person who would that be and why I would like to have dinner with Steven Fry as he has to be one of the most knowledgeable people on the planet What is the best advice you have been given Making a mistake is not a bad thing but what is bad is if you do not learn from it What is your next goal in life Surviving my two children becoming teenagers If you could visit anywhere in the world where would you choose and why I really want to visit Australia They have some amazing wildlife and I would love to see them in their natural environment

Bulletin September 2015 29 What is your favourite quote or saying Once more unto the breach dear friends once more What is the most important thing your job has taught you If you work hard then you can achieve your dreams Cup of tea or stiff drink Stiff drink I have a passion for cider Favourite colour Red Favourite place One of my favourite places is a caf on Dartmoor called Badgers Holt They serve the best scones I have ever had Last book you read The Heretic s Treasure by Scott Marriani Name something that annoys you People that hog the middle lane of the motorway even if there is nothing to pass on the inside Printable most embarrassing moment Getting up in the middle of the night at Congress thinking I was heading through the bathroom door only to find myself in the corridor with the door firmly shut behind me wearing only my boxers Hobbies or interests I like running and going to the gym but my most favourable activity is socialising with a cider in my hand

30 September 2015 Bulletin Animals in Science Education Trust AS ET Special Lecture The first AS ET Special Lecture will be held at 6pm on 21st October 2015 in the Ambrose Fleming Lecture Theatre University College London The lecturer will be Professor Sir Richard Gardner MA PhD ScD FIAT Hon FRSB FRS The title of the lecture is Harnessing Stem Cells for Regenerative Medicine how far have we got The presentation will be suitable for a general audience so please bring your friends and family This will be followed by a reception Tickets are 25 00 each proceeds will go to further the work of AS ET To register an interest email contact as et org uk The Special Lecture is sponsored by AS ET News The Trustees are pleased to announce that Scarlett Martindale of CRUK is the winner Scarlett s bursary will allow her to fly to Phoenix Arizona USA for the AALAS Meeting The winner of the prize draw for official supporters who signed up in the 5th Anniversary recruitment drive was Phil Ruddock Phil received tickets for the 5th Anniversary Ball

Bulletin September 2015 31 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

Bulletin September 2015 The Steve Moore Memorial Prize Goes National 35

36 September 2015 Bulletin North East Branch Visit to Dublin Zoo M y trip to Dublin started on Friday at 9 30am when my friend Jemma and I boarded a train to Manchester airport and then a plane to Dublin The first thing we did once unpacked was track down the Hard Rock Caf for cocktails and food Saturday was zoo day We met Gerry Creighton at 10 00am who happens to be the happiest Irish man I ve ever met and I even ended up taking an ELPHIE with him He took us on a guided tour and gave us several talks on how they tried to give the animals the best habitat they could Their aim was to have the animals living in wide open spaces with as little caging as possible and free roam of the indoor and outdoor enclosures We saw lots of animals but my favourite has to be the elephants as I ve never seen one in real life before They had 8 elephants in total with 3 of them being babies We arrived just in time for their scheduled feeding washing time and saw Gerry use the water cannon to give the elephants a good bath This encouraged the little ones to go swimming in the pool which was right in front of the fence where we were stood It was great seeing the baby elephants swimming and playing in the water and I ended up taking over 20 pictures of them We also saw the monkeys swinging in their trees and making a racket arguing over who was going to eat the food first and penguins who came marching over to us as soon as they saw us approach

Bulletin September 2015 37 Left to Right John Laura Roberson s partner Joanne Bland and her son Jack Gerry Creighton Nathan Hill with baby Frankie Jayne Hill Danielle Webster After a lovely 7 hours at the zoo we headed back to the hotel to get ready to meet the other IAT North East Branch members for a meal out We went to a nice little Irish pub restaurant in the centre of Dublin and had a delicious meal with excellent company Thank you to Allentown who generously paid for the meal I would like to thank the IAT North East Branch and Dublin zoo for enabling us to have a great weekend Danielle Webster Hull University

Bulletin September 2015 39 Oxford Branch Day at the Races O n Saturday July 25th the Oxford IAT branch organised a social event at Ascot racecourse The meeting was the King George VI and Queen Elizabeth Stakes race day and the highlight of a very competitive day s racing was the above contest Britain s most prestigious open age flat race 27 people took up the offer of reduced price tickets kindly supported by sponsorship from Agenda and LBS With a general attendance of over 25 000 it resulted in a military operation for all of us to meet our treasurer Ross who had the entry tickets It did help that he was wearing a distinctive emerald green jacket Once we had received our tickets it was off into the racecourse to enjoy a day s racing After the result of the first race getting up early that day to study the form proved to be unreliable The horse I bet on was so slow the jockey kept a diary of his trip Fortunately my studying appeared to pay off and I managed to have a couple of winners including Postponed in the main event

40 September 2015 Bulletin In fact most of the group had some success during the day which made it even more enjoyable We were also blessed with good weather especially after the torrential rain the previous day The day went very fast and it was not long before we were all saying our goodbyes and heading off home in various directions I would like to thank our sponsors for the day Agenda and LBS who without their generous donations these events would struggle to happen A special mention must also go to Paul Sanders who unfortunately could not attend so he kindly gave his son Toby some money for us all to have a bet We were all given a random selection from one race My horse ran well but unfortunately the jockey was left in the stalls In conclusion the general consensus was that it was a great day out and it looks a distinct possibility that it will be repeated next year John Bowler Branch Reporter

Bulletin September 2015 DIARY Dates 22 September Midlands Branch Trade Day Birmingham Details from biomedicalservices bham ac uk 23 September LASA 3Rs Meeting Birth to Study 3Rs Animal Development and Transport South of England Details from info lasa co uk 23 September LASA 3Rs UFAW Section Meeting Improving the Welfare of Research Animals Stevenage Details from info lasa co uk 30 September LASA Home Office Liaison Training and Information Forum Midlands venue Details from www lasa co uk 7 October SHS Branch An Introduction to the Work of Medical Detection Dogs Surrey Details from shsiat aol com Cover photo Kestrel Lizzy Day 21 October AS ET Special Lecture Harnessing Stem Cells for Regenerative Medicine How far have we got Central London Details from contact as et org uk See page 30 23 October RSPCA UFAW 22nd Rodent and Rabbit Welfare Group Meeting North East England Details from research animals rspca org uk 5 November London Branch Catch Up The Marlborough Arms London Details from j holby ucl ac uk 18 November Cambridge Huntingdon Norfolk Suffolk Branch Joint Autumn Symposium Cambridge Details to follow 25 27 November LASA Winter Meeting South of England Details from info lasa co uk 43