JHU currently has approx. 1350 active animal use protocols for which approx. 550 faculty members serve as principal investigators. Major research programs include cardiopulmonary physiology, behavioral biology, immunology, experimental surgery, neuroscience, tumor biology and immunology, and molecular biology and genetics. There are numerous breeding colonies of laboratory rodents, particularly transgenic and knockout mice, supported by the institutional Transgenic Core, which creates mice for specific research needs. The University owns a research farm where specific pathogen-free rhesus and pig-tailed macaques are bred and housed. The university also maintains a successful marmoset breeding program. A 2017 animal census follows:

Baboons 31
Chinchilla 15
Dogs 12
Ferrets 11
Frogs 26
Guinea pigs 86
Mouse cages 48854
Marmosets 115
Monkeys 577
Owls 22
Rabbits 170
Rats 2320
Swine 27
Bats 185

Plus other species intermittently.

Trainees conduct all aspects of breeding colony management, individual clinical diagnosis and treatment and herd health management and preventive medicine, regulatory support, and clinical research. For more details, see training program description below.

Our program has 2 distinct training tracks for laboratory animal veterinarians. The postdoctoral fellowship is a research-predominant 4-year program consisting of 1 year of clinical training followed by 3 years of bench research. Most of our fellows in this program also complete a PhD (unless they already have a PhD), and they usually move into laboratories to complete their PhD at the end of their fellowship. The clinical residency is a clinical-predominant 3-year program with an emphasis on clinical diagnostics, program management and clinical research. Both programs prepare trainees to take ACLAM boards.

Clinical training (one year for fellows, three years for clinical residents).
This program provides a wealth of experience including in-depth evaluation of clinical conditions in laboratory animal species, with specific emphasis on nonhuman primate medicine and reproduction, large animal surgical models, clinical management of large rodent colonies containing genetically modified mice and diagnostic pathology. Trainees participate in approx. 3-month rotations mentored by faculty with an emphasis not only on individual clinical care, but also on program management, colony issues, and clinical research to investigate current issues. Diagnostlc facilities are extensive, including on-site hematology and chemistry, radiology, laparoscopy, body composition evaluation and ultrasound together with access to MRI PET-SPECT, CAT, faxitron and bioluminescence imaging and advanced microscopy facilities. Collaboration with human diagnostic clinicians for interesting nonhuman primate cases is encouraged and frequently takes place. On call time is shared between all trainees (typically 6-8 trainees). Typical clinical rotations include primate reproductive and medical management, large animal medicine and surgery, mouse colony health management, pathology/necropsy, and research.

Didactic training
Our program includes an extensive lineup of didactic training, including weekly laboratory animal medicine lectures, weekly seminars, weekly clinical rounds, weekly pathology slide conference, twice weekly necropsy rounds, weekly journal club, weekly regulations club, monthly phenotyping seminars, regular facility rounds plus other optional courses run by faculty. Students also participate in IACUC activities via pre-review of protocols for humane animal care, and attendance at monthly committee meetings.

Postdoctoral Fellowship Schedule.
Postdoctoral fellows complete one clinical year in common with the clinical residents (as described above). Starting in their second year, they rotate through labs of their choosing throughout the university before deciding on a laboratory in which they will conduct their primary research. They may also apply to either of the 2 graduate programs in the school of medicine to complete a PhD. The volume and scope of high calibre biomedical research occurring at Johns Hopkins University make this an excellent place to gain both laboratory animal medicine and first class research training. Our fellowship program also trains 3-4 veterinary pathologists, to the mutual benefit of both LAM and pathology trainees, and one of the strengths of our LAM program is the pathology training, much of which is conducted with the veterinary pathology fellows.

Clinical residency schedule.
In addition to clinical and didactic training described above, clinical residents participate in research projects of their choice, choosing from subjects they initiate based on their clinical experience, or from projects ongoing in the department or with other faculty at the institution. A separate research rotation of 3-12 months is typically assigned, and trainees are expected to have at least one article accepted in a peer reviewed journal in time to take ACLAM boards at the completion of their final year. Infectious disease research is a popular topic: our faculty conduct research on tick-borne diseases, rodent infections and environmental confounders, nonhuman primate retrovirology, behavior, rodent toxicology and surgical and radiology research. Our students are frequent presenters at local meetings and at National AALAS.

Departmental faculty include 6 ACLAM boarded faculty, 6 ACVP boarded faculty (1 dual boarded). Other departmental faculty have expertise in parasitology, surgery and radiology.

Cory Brayton (DACLAM, ACVP): mouse phenotyping. 
Julie Watson (DACLAM): rodent infections, environmental confounders of research 
Robert Adams (DACLAM): nonhumate primate management 
Kelly Pate (PhD, DACLAM): Role of Platelets in retrovirology 
Jessica Izzi (DACLAM):large animal surgery 
Eric Hutchinson (DACLAM); nonhuman primate behavior
Joe Mankowski (PhD, DACVP): retrovirology, comparative pathology 
Kathy Gabrielson (PhD, DACVP): reproductive and cardiac toxicology 
Sarah Beck (PhD, DACVP) Retroviral Neuropathology 
Lisa Mangus (PhD, DACVP) Neuropathology 
Sarah Poynton(PhD): aquatic parasitology

Intrautering Zika infection of pregnant immunocompetent mice models transplacental transmission and adverse perinatal outcomes. Meghan Vermilion et al. Nature Communications February 2017
Protective effects of glutamine antagonist DON in mice with alphaviral encephalomyelitis.
Manivannan S, Baxter VK, Schultz KL, Slusher BS, Griffin DE.
J Virol. 2016 Aug 3. pii: JVI.01045-16. [Epub ahead of print]

Cassie Moats, Tori Baxter, Nathan Pate, Julie Watson. Ectoparasite burden, clinical disease, and immune responses over the course of fur mite (Myocoptes musculinus) infestation in C57BL/6 and Rag1-/- mice. Comp Med. 2016;66(3):197-207.

Progesterone-Based Therapy Protects Against Influenza by Promoting Lung Repair and Recovery in Females.Hall OJ, Limjunyawong N, Vermillion MS, Robinson DP, Wohlgemuth N, Pekosz A, Mitzner W, Klein SL.PLoS Pathog. 2016 Sep 15;12(9):e1005840. 2016 Sep

Comp Med. 2016;66(4):324-32.
Serum Cobalamin (Vitamin B12) Concentrations in Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta) and Pigtailed Macaques (Macaca nemestrina) with Chronic Idiopathic Diarrhea.

Guidance in sample collection and fecal flotation exam for isolation of Aspiculuris tetraptera. Anna Goodroe, Victoria K Baxter, Julie Watson. J Am Assoc. Lab An. Sci. Oct 2016.

Neuropathology and Cellular Pathogenesis of Spinocerebellar Ataxia Type 12.
O'Hearn EE, Hwang HS, Holmes SE, Rudnicki DD, Chung DW, Seixas AI, Cohen RL, Ross CA, Trojanowski JQ, Pletnikova O, Troncoso JC, Margolis RL.
Mov Disord. 2015 Nov;30(13):1813-24. doi: 10.1002/mds.26348. Epub 2015 Sep 4.

The use of glucocorticoids in marmoset wasting syndrome. Otovic P, Smith S, Hutchinson E. J Med Primatol. 2015 Apr;44(2):53-9. Epub 2015 Jan 23.

Izzi JM1, Beck SE2, Adams RJ2, Metcalf Pate KA2, Hutchinson EK3.
Caroline Garrett, Dillon Muth and Julie Watson. Use of medicated diet to eradicate Helicobacter spp.in Rag1 and Nude mice: impact on growth, pathology and infection status. J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 2014 May;53(3):238-45.

Freeman ZT, Krall C, Rice KA, Adams RJ, Metcalf Pate KA, Hutchinson EK. Severity
and Distribution of Wounds in Rhesus Macaques (Macaca mulatta) Correlate with Observed Self-Injurious Behavior. Journal of American Association of Laboratory Animal Science. 2015 September: 54:5

Freeman ZT, Rice KA, Soto PL, Metcalf Pate KA, Weed MR, Ator NA, DeLeon IG,
Wong DF, Zhou Y, Mankowski JL, Zink MC, Adams RJ, Hutchinson EK. Neurocognitive dysfunction and pharmacological intervention using guanfacine in a rhesus macaque model of self-injurious behavior. Translational Psychiatry. 2015 May

Theresa M. Meade, Eric Hutchinson, Caroline Krall and Julie Watson. Use of an aquarium as a novel enrichment item and its effect on locomotor stereotypy in a group of singly housed rhesus macaques (Macaca mulatta). J Am Assoc Lab An Sci. 2014. 53 (5) 472-477.

Theresa M Meade, Julie Watson. Characterization of rat pinworm (Syphacia muris) epidemiology as a means to increase detection and elimination. J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 2014 (53) 6, 661-667.

Johns Hopkins is a large and thriving institution with a music conservatory, a medical school, a world class research program and a first class undergraduate college, offering a wealth of cultural activities.  Baltimore, Maryland is a town large enough to offer many metropolitan attractions, but small enough not to be intimidating and it supports urban, suburban and rural lifestyles within commuting distance. It is located on the Chesapeake Bay and offers a wide variety of water and beach activities, and is surrounded by many National Forests and Parks. The Shenandoah Mountains are an easy days drive away. Washington DC, The Smithsonian Institute, and The National Zoo are a 60- 90 minute drive or light rail ride to the South. Philadelphia lies 2 hours to the North.

Our academic home:    http://mcp.bs.jhmi.edu/