To
International Council for
Laboratory Animal Science
Report of the training program awarded by ICLAS ERC (ICLAS ERC Fellowship training program 2013) from Florina Popovska Percinic, PhD
I’m one of the three awardees of ICLAS ERC fellowship training program in laboratory animal science for 2013 andfor that purpose I’ve visited the Institute Clinique de la Souris (ICS) in Strasbourg, France in the period from 19.11.-29.11.2013.
In the beginning, I was introduced to the activities of the ICS through a short presentation from Elodie Bedu, Manager in scientific business development and trainings. The ICSwas built in 2002 andhas a 6000 m2,providing specialized services to academic and industrial users.
I’ve visited the breeding facility, occupying an area of 2100m2, located in the ground floor. They have 12 animal rooms (16 640 cages in total) of genetically modified,specific pathogen free mice. The mouse facility supervisor (Mrs. Dalila Ali-Hadji) has explained me the housing system in the breeding facility (the individually ventilated caging (IVC) system, different types of cages (for breeding and stock), the ventilation systemand the washing and disinfection methods). I also got acquainted (as an observer) with the daily procedures in the animal facility concerning methods for mouse identification, changing the bedding material and working with the specially designed mouse software for data keeping. With that, I’ve fulfilled one of the goals of my visit, which was to get the opportunity to learn about the organizing and functioning of laboratory animal facility according EU standards. Since one of the aims in our department is to establish a vivarium with lab animals, now, we will be able to implement the newly gained knowledge for developing modern standards of animal care in our faculty.
I had also participated (as an observer) to a different techniques performed byresearchers or the veterinarian, involving anesthesia, analgesia and euthanasia. Afterwards, we had very fruitful discussions especially with the veterinarian, Mrs. Isabelle Goncalves Da Cruz,about pros and cons of these procedures. I had also theoretical discussions about the mice and rats pathology and health status with the ICS and IGBMC veterinarians. That helped me realize the promotion of the animal welfare concept during experimental design more clearly. The gained knowledge will be incorporated not only in my future project proposals but also in the educational program for students and PhD students through the subject about animal welfare and use of animals in scientific purposes.
During the training, I had the opportunity to visit Histopathology and Embryology lab as one of the services of the Phenotyping Department, wereDr. Hugues Jacobs and Dr. Olivia Wendling has discussed with me the methods they are working on, as well as the daily routine methods, such as making histological or cryo slides and performing a necropsy.
As a member of University animal welfare committee in my country, I had very productive discussions and exchanging experiencewith Mrs. Isabelle Goncalves Da Cruz, who is also a member of ethic committee in ICS about several things, such as: project evaluation, legislation about trainings of the staff as well as members of the ethical committee. We had also discussed and exchanged experience in some new aspects of the New Directive 2010/63 and its implementation, such as preparation of the nontechnical summary and retrospective assessment, as well as animals used in experiments(article 9,10, 11). When I came back, in order to disseminate the newly gained knowledge, I had already organized a presentation of this aspect of my visit to my fellow colleagues from other faculties, also members of ethical committee as well as to a veterinarian in our Ministry who is involved in implementing the New Directive 2010/63 into our national legislation for animal welfare and use of animals in experiments.
During my stay I have briefly visited other activities of the ICS, such as Phenotyping Department with 6 different labs for clinical characterization of mice and the equipment they have, with the emphasis of µCT and its performances and the Microinjection and Cryopreservation Unit where I’ve observed the technique of putting the ES cells into the blastocyst.
As a summary of my visit to ICS,I have to say that this training has fulfilled my expectations and my goals. It was a very useful visit for me, both theoretical and practical part. Equal to the gained knowledge are the new people and professional contacts that I’ve madeduring my stay, which I hope that will continue to develop in the future.
At the end, Therefore, I would like to express my warmest gratitude to the ICLAS ERC as well as to the sponsors of this fellowship award for providing me with this opportunity. At the same time, I express my deepest appreciation to the ICS board as well as to the employees from ICS who shared some of their knowledge with me and especially to Mrs. Isabelle Goncalves Da Cruz, who made my entire schedule during the visit, enabling me to see most of their different activities. Her well-organized plan together with her hospitality and generosity made my stay in Strasbourg unforgettable.
Sincerely,
Florina Popovska-Percinic, PhD
/ Адреса:Лазар Поп-Трајков 5-7,1000 Скопје, Р. Македонија / Address: Lazar Pop-Trajkov 5-7, 1000 Skopje, R. Macedonia /
Certificate No: 74597
Tel:+389 2 3240 700
Fax:+389 2 3114 619
E-mail:
Web: