University of Pennsylvania

Institution Type	Public University
Is there a medical school?	Yes
Is this a land-grant institution?	No
Vivarium Director	Dr. Diane J. Gaertner (ULAR)
Program Director	Dr. Raimon Duran-Struuck
Who to Contact	Dr. Raimon Duran-Struuck
Address	3800 Spruce Street, OVQ 177E, ULAR, School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia PA 19104
Phone	(215) 573-3625
Fax	(215) 573-9998
Email	rdura@upenn.edu

Vivarium Information

Vivarium Name	University of Pennsylvania
Is the facility AAALAC accredited?	Yes
Describe management structure	More than 5 administratively distinct vivaria
Describe the extent to which your facilities are centralized	Animals housed in 5+ separate locations
Vivarium Square Feet	300,000
Summarize the nature of the animal population and the predominant types of clinical activities	All species of laboratory animals, to include rodents, dogs, cats, rabbits, pigs, sheep, nonhuman primates, aquatic species, and invertebrates. Complete surgical support and rodent diagnostic laboratory support. The institution maintains germ-free and gnotobiology laboratories, an Institute of Gene Therapy, and Transgenic Core Facilities. Penn is highly ranked nation-wide among schools of medicine in PHS-funded biomedical research. Major categories of biomedical research conducted within the School of Medicine include cancer, cell biology, imaging, anesthesia, surgery, infectious disease, cell therapy, gene therapy, transplantation, genetics, heart disease, neuroscience and immunology. Species covered as part of clinical training. 1. Sheep, swine, and dogs and macaques make up the majority of our large animal clinical caseload. The Veterinary School also has a large canine and feline breeding colony for heritable models of human disease. Colony size is consistently 30-60 animals or more in each of those four species. 2. Secondary species which residents will obtain significant experience with include cats, ferrets, guinea pigs and rabbits. 3. Residents will have regular and significant training in mice and rats in various housing parameters (conventional vs. barrier) and under differing disease statuses. Hamsters and gerbils are occasionally used in ULAR, so residents will have limited exposure to these species. 4. Other species which residents will obtain significant experience with include Xenopus, Danio and other fish, snakes, finches, and chickens.
Number of Veterinarians in program	15
Number of ACLAM Diplomates in program	7
Number of Boarded Pathologists	1
Number of Other Boarded Veterinary Specialists	0
Number of necropsies/week in the veterinary unit	15
Number of surgical cases/week in the veterinary unit	10

Training Program Details

Is this program recognized by ACLAM?	Yes
Does this program participate in the Veterinary Internship & Residency Matching Program (VIRMP)?	Yes
Number of concurrent residents	6
How many residents/trainees have completed this program?	15
Of these, how many have subsequently become ACLAM Diplomates?	11
In what year did the program accept its first trainee?	2006
How many years are required to complete this program (residency only)?	3
Is formal coursework offered?	Yes
Is a degree program associated with this residency?	No
If yes, what degree(s)?
Which departments most commonly grant degree(s)?
Give an overview of this program, describing its particular strengths and any unique aspects that are not addressed in any of the other sections	This program is participating in the VIRMP and thus will require applications to be uploaded with our program selected for consideration as described in the VIRMP website; interviews will be completed by early January, and automated matching will occur as determined by VIRMP. Please be sure to review the directions on the ASLAP (www.aslap.org) main website and VIRMP website (https://www.virmp.org)!! IMPORTANT-- NOTE THAT THE DEADLINE FOR LABORATORY ANIMAL RESIDENCIES IS NOT THE SAME AS FOR THE REST OF THE INTERNSHIP/RESIDENCIES. The University of Pennsylvania is a large academic institution with a wide array of species used as animal models at one of the most highly funded biomedical research institutions in the country. University Laboratory Animal Resources (ULAR)provides clinical, husbandry, and financial support for the care and use of animals used in biomedical research on campus. The residency program is organized into a 3-year program that emphasizes clinical medicine, lab animal pathology, regulatory affairs, and administration of a complex and diverse laboratory animal program. Following 2 years of clinical rotations, a 3rd year is provided for exclusive research training in an area of interest to the resident. The training program is officially recognized by the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine (ACLAM), and program completion satisfies eligibility requirements for specialty board certification. The objective of the University of Pennsylvania ACLAM Training Program is to provide graduate veterinarians the clinical and research training necessary to become skilled laboratory animal veterinarians and become contributing members of the laboratory animal medicine community. Through the intense didactic component of the program and mentored research experience with the goal providing a first authored publication in a peer reviewed journal, this program will work to preparing the residents to succeed at the board examination. The Penn Training Program is administered within the Division of Laboratory Animal Medicine in the Department of Pathobiology in the School of Veterinary Medicine. This allows for routine interaction (rounds, Dept. seminar series) of our residents with the veterinary anatomic and clinical pathology residents and faculty of this academic department. This close relationship with the School of Veterinary Medicine, as well as the School of Medicine, will allow for clinical and research collaborations in pursuit of the publication required for eligibility for ACLAM boards.
Describe any unique research interests of your faculty	Microbiology Analgesia and Anesthesia Rodent Diseases and Clinical Pathology Husbandry, refinements, and rodent welfare Nonhuman primate refinements and welfare Immunology Transplantation/ Cell therapy Care of immunodeficient animals
Give a few literature citations of publications completed by trainees during their tenure in this program	Wilson, JM, RM Bunte, AJ Carty. Evaluation of rapid cooling and tricaine methanesulfonate (MS-222) as methods of euthanasia in zebrafish (Danio rerio). J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci, 48: 785-789, 2009. Wilson, JM and FC Hankenson. Evaluation of an in-house rapid ELISA test for detection of Giardia in domestic sheep (Ovis aries). J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci, 49: 809-813, 2010. Maks, CJ, XS Wan, JH Ware, AL Romero-Weaver, JK Sanzari, JM Wilson, S Rightnar, AJ Wroe, P Koss, DS Gridley, JM Slater, AR Kennedy. Analysis of white blood cell counts in mice after gamma- or proton-radiation exposure. Radiat Res, 176: 170-176, 2011. Wilson, JM, JK Sanzari, E Diffenderfer, S Yee, JT Seykora, C Maks, JH Ware, HI Litt, JA Reetz, J McDonough, D Weissman, AR Kennedy and KA Cengel. Acute biological effects of simulating the whole-body radiation dose distribution from a solar particle event using a porcine model. Radiat Res, 176: 649-659, 2011. Sanzari, JK, JM Wilson, EB Wagner and AR Kennedy. The combined effects of reduced weightbearing and ionizing radiation on splenic lymphocyte population and function. Int J Radiat Biol, 87: 1033-1038, 2011. Wilson, JM, GS Krigsfeld, JK Sanzari, EB Wagner, R Mick and AR Kennedy. Comparison of hindlimb unloading and partial weight suspension models for spaceflight-type condition induced effects on white blood cells. Adv Space Res, 49: 237-248, 2012. Jasmin BH, Boston RC, Modesto RB, Schaer TP. Perioperative Ruminal pH Changes in Domestic Sheep (Ovis aries) Housed in a Biomedical Research Setting. J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 2011. 50(1):27-32. Miedel E, Dishowitz MI, Myers MH, Dopkin D, Yu YY, Miclau TS, Marcucio R, Ahn J, Hankenson KD. Disruption of Thrombospondin-2 Accelerates Ischemic Fracture Healing. Journal of Orthopedic Research. November 2012. Marx JO, Brice AK, Boston RC, Smith AL. Incidence rates of spontaneous disease in laboratory mice used at a large biomedical research institution. J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 2013 Nov;52(6):782-91. Marx JO, Vudathala D, Murphy L, Rankin S, Hankenson FC. Antibiotic administration in the drinking water of mice. J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 2014 May;53(3):301-6. Jaber SM, Hankenson FC, Heng K, McKinstry-Wu A, Kelz MB, Marx JO. Dose regimens, variability, and complications associated with using repeat-bolus dosing to extend a surgical plane of anesthesia in laboratory mice. J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 2014 Nov;53(6):684-91. Marx JO, Jensen JA, Seelye S, Walton RM, Hankenson FC. The Effects of Acute Blood Loss for Diagnostic Bloodwork and Fluid Replacement in Clinically Ill Mice. Comp Med. 2015 Jun;65(3):202-16. Allen-Worthington KH, Brice AK, Marx JO, Hankenson FC.Intraperitoneal Injection of Ethanol for the Euthanasia of Laboratory Mice (Mus musculus) and Rats (Rattus norvegicus).J Am Assoc Lab Anim Sci. 2015 Nov;54(6):769-78.
Where will vacancies be advertised?	COMPMED, ACLAM website, VIRMP
What month does the program begin?	July

Living and Working

Starting Annual Salary	$39,264
To what extent is travel to meetings, etc. paid for?	$2000 per year for at least one national professional conference and local relevant meetings and related training opportunities
Is individual health insurance provided?	Yes
Is family health insurance provided?	No
Describe any fees or tuition	Tuition is fully paid. Health insurance costs are approximately $670/year for an individual. See http://studentaffairs.psu.edu/health/services/insurance/graduate.shtml for further details.
Describe the residents' responsibilities for night, weekend, and holiday coverage	Rotating weekly (weeknight/end) and holiday emergency duties with staff veterinarians. Residents will likely not be on-call more often than once every 8-10 weeks.
How many annual vacation days are given?	15
How many annual sick days are given?	12
Briefly describe the community	Philadelphia is the Nation's first (and only) World Heritage city. Recently voted as the 3rd-ranked 'happiest city' for young professionals, Philadelphia is a large city with a central historic core surrounded by individual and unique neighborhoods. There are several major universities within the city and 4 major professional sports teams. It has a vibrant arts and cultural pulse, with many major museums, symphony hall, and dozens of theaters. Philadelphia has an exciting dining and nightlife scene to cater to any taste. There is a significant public transportation system servicing the city and outlying suburban regions. (http://www.philly.com/)
Institutional, facility, or training program web site	http://www.vet.upenn.edu/ - search Pathobiology dept