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Lab Rat Chat - Episode 16 with Lisa Roberts from the University of Connecticut
 
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In this episode of Lab Rat Chat, Danielle and I talked with Lisa Roberts, RLATg, a veterinary technician at the University of Connecticut.  We had a very interesting conversation about the day-to-day operations and what life is like for those working within an animal research facility.  Lisa talked to us about the various positions within their animal care facility and the daily interactions that go on between them to ensure the animals are constantly receiving the best quality of care.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Lisa’s extensive background and experience throughout her education and career.
• The day-to-day responsibilities and what life is like working within an animal research facility.
• A few of Lisa’s favorite projects that she’s been a part of over the years
• Advice for those who may be interested in pursuing a career in laboratory animal science.

Notable quote:

“The animal care techs...they are an advocate and a voice for the animals, they see and interact with them daily and they'll notice those subtle changes in their behavior...and it's so important to have people in those positions that are intuitive to that.  I feel that people who have a love for animals are the people that are drawn to this position, and they are very good at that job."

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Resources & Links:

• Americans for Medical Progress (https://www.amprogress.org/) 
• Americans for Medical Progress COVID-19 Resources (https://www.amprogress.org/covid-19-resources/)

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Lab Rat Chat - Episode 15 with Angela Stoyanovitch, Founding Partner and Host of Legal Drugs Podcast.
 
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In this episode of Lab Rat Chat, Danielle and I had a chat with Angela Stoyanovitch, B.A., LATG, who is the Founding Partner and host of Legal Drugs Podcast, a production of Legal Drugs Agency, LLC.  Legal Drugs Agency is a consultancy and media agency dedicated to supporting both drug developers and the public in understanding what it takes to get a drug to market.  After graduating from Hope College with degrees in Biology and Neuroscience, Angela set out to understand more about biomedical research.  In her first job out of college she certified as a Laboratory Animal Technologist.  Leveraging her experience in the lab, Angela networked her way to supporting researchers as a sales representative for one of the largest contract research organizations in the world. Altogether, Angela brings twelve years of contract research, drug development and business development experience to her media platforms and show, Legal Drugs Podcast, where she interviews both scientific or industry experts and laypeople affected by disease.  Angela is interested in the human effect of the industry, preventative measures, curative drugs and a transparent tax-funded culture for all of biomedical research as it supports new legal drugs.

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Resources & Links:

• Legal Drugs Podcast (https://www.podpage.com/legal-drugs-podcast/)
• NAALAS Panel – Podcasting to the Public and the Art of Storytelling (https://issuu.com/aalasoffice/docs/2020_virtual_meeting_program/28)
• Listen to Lab Rat Chat co-host, Jeff, on Legal Drugs Podcast (https://www.podpage.com/legal-drugs-podcast/28-an-alternative-narrative-to-animal-research-in-biotechnology-the-journey-to-becoming-a-lab-animal-veterinarian-with-jeff-marshall/)
• Americans for Medical Progress (https://www.amprogress.org/) 
• Americans for Medical Progress COVID-19 Resources (https://www.amprogress.org/covid-19-resources/)

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Lab Rat Chat - Episode 14 with Dr. Christopher Chen from Texas Biomedical Research Institute
 
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In this episode of Lab Rat Chat, Danielle and I talked with Dr. Christopher Chen, Southwest National Primate Research Center Assistant Director for Research Support at Texas Biomedical Research Institute.  We had an interesting conversation about his lab’s recent development of a new incredible animal model in the squirrel monkey, for the purpose of studying Hepatitis B.  In this episode you’ll learn everything you need to know about Hepatitis B and the important ongoing research working toward cures and treatments for this disease.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Dr. Chen’s extensive background and experience throughout his education and career.
• Hepatitis B background information, including what it is, what it does to the body, how long the disease can last, and much more.
• The storied history of hepatitis B and C research, including the development of a vaccine for hepatitis B and a cure for hepatitis C, at Texas Biomedical Research Institute.
• The process of developing a squirrel monkey animal model for hepatitis B research and why the squirrel monkey makes for such a great model.
• Future directions for hepatitis B research now that the squirrel monkey model has been developed.

Notable quotes:

“The goal is to find some related monkey to wooly monkeys that would support the infection of this wooly monkey HBV chronically, so squirrel monkeys are closely related, and they have conserved residues of other receptors.”

“Took the viral genome from wooly monkey HBV and inserted into another virus that infects the liver quite readily, it’s called adeno-associated virus…we essentially gutted the adeno-associated virus genome and replaced it with this wooly monkey HBV genome and that allowed us to get the virus to very readily infect the liver cells of the squirrel monkey, and once it was in the liver cells, it would naturally replicate and you would get wild-type wooly monkey HBV being produced.”

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Resources & Links:

• Texas Biomedical Research Institute (https://www.txbiomed.org/)
• Texas Biomed Squirrel Monkey Animal Model for Hepatitis B article (https://www.txbiomed.org/news-press/news-releases/new-animal-model-identified-to-research-hepatitis-b-virus/)
• Americans for Medical Progress (https://www.amprogress.org/) 
• Americans for Medical Progress COVID-19 Resources (https://www.amprogress.org/covid-19-resources/)

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Lab Rat Chat - Episode 13 with Dr. Joanne Turner and Dr. Luis Martinez-Sobrido from Texas Biomedical Research Institute
 
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In this episode of Lab Rat Chat, Danielle and I had the pleasure of talking to two guests, another first for us, with Dr. Joanne Turner and Dr. Luis Martinez-Sobrido from Texas Biomedical Research Institute.  We chatted about their recent development of humanized mice to help us understand some of the many complexities surrounding SARS-CoV-2, as well as simply talking about some general mysteries about this COVID-19 disease that we hear about in the media.  For a more in-depth read on their COVID-19 research, check out the link below in the 'Resources & Links' section.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Dr. Turner’s and Dr. Martinez-Sobrido’s extensive backgrounds and experiences throughout their education and careers.
• Details regarding the humanized mice they’ve developed and why they’re a good model to study COVID-19.
• Information about the infectious dose of COVID-19 and why children seem less susceptible, and how using this mouse model may help give clues on these mysteries.
• Ways to approach talking about animal research with the public and how the public should perceive the field of biomedical research.

Notable quotes:

“Altogether what we find is these transgenic mice pretty much represent a very nice and good small animal model to study COVID-19 pathogenesis and to study some of these approaches that we are trying to develop at Texas Biomed in terms of vaccine development and therapeutics for the treatment of these viral infections”

“These transgenic mice will be a great model to study if you can get re-infected once you have primarily been infected with the virus.”

“I think some of those apparent contradictions are because it’s a new virus, it’s unknown, and we’re working at it very quickly and we’re putting information out as we find it, so often our initial observation get modified when we learn more.  So that’s why it seems like, in science, we’re sometimes changing our minds, but that’s because we gathered new information in a robust way.”

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Resources & Links:

• Texas Biomedical Research Institute (https://www.txbiomed.org/)
• Texas Biomed Humanized Mice Press Release (https://www.txbiomed.org/news-press/news-releases/sars-cov-2-rodent-study/)
• Americans for Medical Progress (https://www.amprogress.org/) 
• Americans for Medical Progress COVID-19 Resources (https://www.amprogress.org/covid-19-resources/)

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Lab Rat Chat - Episode 12 with Dr. Logan France, board-certified laboratory animal veterinarian and Founder and Program Director of BRAD
 
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In this episode of Lab Rat Chat, Danielle and I had a chance to catch up with Dr. Logan France to talk all about Biomedical Research Awareness Day (BRAD), officially planned for September 17, 2020.  If you don’t already know, BRAD is a truly amazing day that celebrates the use of animals in biomedical research that have contributed to both human and veterinary medicine.  Anyone and everyone can and should celebrate BRAD and help educate and inform not only the public but also themselves on the importance of animal research.  To get started, head to the BRAD webpage in the ‘Resources and Links’ section below and be sure to follow them on all their social media accounts!

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Dr. France’s extensive background and experiences throughout her education and career.
• An overview of what Biomedical Research Awareness Day is and how it all started.
• How BRAD has grown over the years to become a worldwide celebration of laboratory animals and medical advancements.
• Ways to get involved and celebrate this annual tradition.
• Dr. France’s favorite laboratory animal and a couple of her favorite medical discoveries that have come from the use of animals in biomedical research.

Notable quotes:

“We also created BRAD challenges for this year…we’ve got 18 challenges for people to complete that are focused on showing support for animal research and educating others about the importance for animal research, and by participating they can earn entries for a raffle where we are giving away a bunch of neat prizes.”

“The Principal Investigator (PI) for this lab was on the team of surgeons that completed the first bilateral forearm transplant at John’s Hopkins in a young man who survived a quadruple amputation after an injury in Iraq, and he lost all four limbs and was then able to have this transplant done and he now has two working arms…he’s able to do push-ups and pull-ups.”

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Resources & Links:

• BRAD's Webpage (https://www.bradglobal.org/)
• BRAD’s Facebook (https://www.facebook.com/BRADGlobal/)
• BRAD’s Instagram (https://www.instagram.com/brad_global/)
• BRAD’s Twitter (https://twitter.com/amp_brad)
• Americans for Medical Progress (https://www.amprogress.org/) 

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Lab Rat Chat - Episode 11 with Dr. Dale Cooper, board-certified laboratory animal veterinarian
 
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In this episode of Lab Rat Chat, Dr. Dale Cooper, speaks to us about some of the common misconceptions surrounding the use of animals in research.  We’ve all heard the argument that animals aren’t useful models for drug development, so take a minute and listen to Dr. Cooper break down the facts on this one and tell us why they are indeed the absolute best model for this and why they are still 100% necessary. Go check out Dr. Cooper’s guest article from a couple years back for Speaking of Research titled, “Predictability and Utility of Animal Models”.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Dr. Cooper’s extensive background and experiences throughout his education and career.
• A brief overview of the drug development process and alternatives that are utilized before ever testing a drug in an animal.
• The ability of animals to successfully predict potential toxicities and safety of a drug before testing it in humans.
• Whether or not the use of animals for drug development and testing could be skipped altogether, going straight into human testing instead.
• How a drug obtains approval to move from an animal model into human testing and ultimately on to the market.

Notable quotes:

“Some people will think about drug development in a particular animal research as if you one run study on one drug, and that gives you all your answers, and that couldn’t be further from the truth.”

“The vast majority of people, even if they won’t admit that they’re okay with animal research, they are driving the demand that essentially is there asking us to develop drugs, develop within a certain timeframe, within a certain cost, and with a certain level of safety.”

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Resources & Links:

• Dr. Cooper’s Guest Post: Predictability and Utility of Animal Models (https://speakingofresearch.com/2017/07/25/predictability-and-utility-of-animal-models/)
• Americans for Medical Progress (https://www.amprogress.org/) 
• PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (https://olaw.nih.gov/policies-laws/phs-policy.htm)  
• Animal Welfare Act (https://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/animal-welfare-act) 

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Lab Rat Chat - Episode 10 with Dr. Tara Martin, Director of the Refinement and Enrichment Laboratory at the University of Michigan
 
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In this episode of Lab Rat Chat, Dr. Tara Martin from the Refinement and Enrichment Laboratory at the University of Michigan joins us to chat about the use of enrichment to stimulate and improve the lives of laboratory animals.  Dr. Martin and her team go to incredible lengths to ensure the enrichment they provide to every single animal are both safe and effective.

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Dr. Martin’s extensive background and experiences throughout her education and career.
• The mission and vision of the Refinement and Enrichment Laboratory at the University of Michigan.
• What enrichment is and why it must (almost) always be used for laboratory animals.
• The process of testing and approving new enrichment items for use with the various animal species.
• Specific types of enrichment that may be used for animals based upon the type of study they’re involved in, such as studying cancer or cardiovascular diseases versus depression or anxiety.

Notable quotes:

“The reason we research enrichment is because there are a lot of toys and items available that seem like they would be really fun to us as humans, and then you give them to an animal and the animal is like ‘I have no interest in this item’, or they may even be afraid of the item.”

“We filmed pigs with a bunch of different mats and then a bunch of different toys, and they ignored most of the items we put in, such as Kongs or balls, but the mats they would sleep on and then they would spend a lot of time pushing them around the cage, probably because pigs just love to root items on the ground and that’s just such a normal behavior for them.”

Resources & Links:

• Refinement & Enrichment Advancements Laboratory (https://animalcare.umich.edu/animal-use/refinement-enrichment-advancements-laboratory)
• REAL Lab Animal Enrichment Database (https://az.research.umich.edu/animalcare/search/all?keys=&type=All&topic=18&category=All)
• Americans for Medical Progress (https://www.amprogress.org/) 
• PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (https://olaw.nih.gov/policies-laws/phs-policy.htm)  
• Animal Welfare Act (https://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/animal-welfare-act) 

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Lab Rat Chat - Episode 09 with Dr. Javier Guillen from the European Animal Research Association
 
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In this ninth episode of Lab Rat Chat, Dr. Javier Guillen from the European Animal Research Association joins us all the way from Spain to chat about the similarities and differences in animal research regulations and laws in the European Union compared with those in the United States.   

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Dr. Guillen's extensive background and experiences throughout his education and career.
• The mission and vision of the European Animal Research Association.
• Similarities and differences between United States and EU animal research regulations.
• The development of Transparency Agreements and how they may be contributing to increasing public trust.

Notable quotes:

“In these current times of COVID-19, EARA has put together an interactive map to display the biomedical research currently underway across the world to find a cure for coronavirus.”

“Many people don’t really know when, why, and how animals are used.  When you explain to someone all the regulations and ethical oversight, they are really surprised.”

Resources & Links:

• European Animal Research Association (www.eara.eu)
• EARA interactive COVID-19 map (https://www.eara.eu/post/how-animals-are-helping-in-covid-19-research-a-global-overview)
• Americans for Medical Progress (https://www.amprogress.org/) 
• PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (https://olaw.nih.gov/policies-laws/phs-policy.htm)  
• Animal Welfare Act (https://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/animal-welfare-act) 

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Lab Rat Chat - Episode 08 with Dr. Ricardo Carrion, Jr., Professor at Texas Biomedical Research Institute
 
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In this eighth episode of Lab Rat Chat, Dr. Ricardo Carrion, Jr., from Texas Biomedical Research Institute, talks to us about the research they are doing down at their institute in San Antonio, TX to help combat COVID-19. 

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Dr. Carrion’s journey through his education and career leading to his current position at Texas Biomedical Research Institute.
• The details behind various high containment laboratories that allow scientists to work safely with deadly pathogens.
• The use of various animal models to help understand and study SARS-CoV-2, the causative virus behind the COVID-19 disease.

Notable quotes:

"Individuals are actually suited into a space-suit type uniform, it's a single, continuous jump-suit, if you will, that has a zipper...they are tethered to a breathing air-supply line, and they work in the BSL-4 laboratory in that suit."

“The level of collaborations seen in this outbreak, this pandemic, is greater than any other type of collaboration that I’ve seen in the 20 years that I’ve been doing science.”

“If you look at vaccine development, if you look at Ebola for instance, as an example, it was about 7-10 years to license that vaccine.  So that in one year, we’re talking about possibly having an FDA licensed vaccine for COVID-19, it’s pretty remarkable”

Resources & Links:

• Texas Biomedical Research Institute (www.txbiomed.org)
• Americans for Medical Progress (https://www.amprogress.org/)
• AMP's COVID-19 Resources (https://www.amprogress.org/covid-19-resources/)
• PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (https://olaw.nih.gov/policies-laws/phs-policy.htm)  
• Animal Welfare Act (https://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/animal-welfare-act) 

All Lab Rat Chat episodes are edited by Audionauts: https://audionauts.pro/ 

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Lab Rat Chat - Episode 07 with Dr. Mark Slifka, Professor at Oregon Health and Science University
 
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In this seventh episode of Lab Rat Chat, Dr. Mark Slifka from Oregon Health and Science University talks to us about his research involving developing antibody tests for detecting COVID-19.

Check out the video version of this episode on YouTube (link below)! Be sure to comment and let us know if you want to see more of this in the future! And yes, I'm recording from my basement, which is one of the only, actually, it is the only, somewhat quiet place in my house.

Video version of the episode - https://youtu.be/ArmVEja-AD0

Topics discussed in this episode:

• Dr. Slifka’s journey through his education and career leading to his current position at Oregon Health and Science University.
• Serological (antibody) tests for COVID-19 detection in people.
• Why developing these serological tests to be highly accurate is so important to help our country, and our entire world, move past this COVID-19 pandemic.
• The general role of animals in vaccine development.
• Potential treatment options for those suffering from COVID-19.

Notable quotes:

“We were the first study to demonstrate that immunity can be maintained for up to 75 years after a single vaccination against smallpox.”

“A virus like measles is very very contagious, far more contagious than COVID-19, far more contagious than flu”

“If we got herd immunity in the range of 50-60%, then there’s a good chance that the herd immunity itself would reduce that reproductive number to less than one and the virus would burn itself out”

Resources & Links:

• Americans for Medical Progress (https://www.amprogress.org/) 
• AMP's COVID-19 Resources (https://www.amprogress.org/covid-19-resources/)
• PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (https://olaw.nih.gov/policies-laws/phs-policy.htm)  
• Animal Welfare Act (https://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/animal-welfare-act) 

All Lab Rat Chat episodes are edited by Audionauts: https://audionauts.pro/

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