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Zebrafish are seen in tanks at the Penn State College of Medicine Zebrafish Functional Genomic Core. Several fish are seen in detail at left in focus, with an out-of-focus background of their tank and neighboring tanks framing them at right.

Department of Comparative Medicine

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Comparative Medicine Services Basic Content

Comparative Medicine Services Offered

Animal Care and Use Protocol Assistance

The faculty of the Department of Comparative Medicine is available assist researchers in writing and refining animal care and use protocols for submission to the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC).

Animal Resources and Veterinary Care

The Animal Resource Program provides health monitoring, housing and veterinary care (including routine and emergency care) for species engaged in biomedical research.

Comparative Medicine Diagnostic Laboratory

The Comparative Medicine veterinary diagnostic laboratory offers a wide variety of clinical testing to support research needs at a competitive price. Services include hematology, chemistry, clinical microscopy, cytology, urinalysis, histology, and limited microbiology.

Comparative Pathology Service

The Department of Comparative Medicine pathology service provides researchers access to experts in veterinary and comparative pathology. Services available include gross necropsy, histopathology (including semi-quantitative or quantitative analysis), immunohistochemistry, phenotyping, development/implementation of analysis techniques, manuscript review, and clinical pathology.

Hands-On Training

Small group and customized individualized training is available to all researchers and students at no charge. Practice sessions include common rodent procedures, anesthesia, surgery, and substance administration. Assistance is also available for development or refinement of novel procedures.

Health Surveillance Services

The health of animals under the care of the Department of Comparative Medicine is surveilled by testing sentinel and colony animals using serology, parasitology, microbiology, diagnostic necropsy and environmental monitoring. Quarantine testing is provided for animals imported from other institutions and routine colony testing is performed quarterly.

Surgical Support Services

The Department of Comparative Medicine offers support for surgical models by providing surgical suite and instrument pack rentals, pre- and post- surgical veterinary care, medication administration, imaging, and clinical pathology services.

Transgenic Facility, Rederivation Core and Bioluminescence Imaging

The Transgenic Core Facility is a shared resource designed to produce genetically engineered mice for research projects of investigators, as well as rederivation services, sperm cryopreservation services, cryorecovery service for frozen embryos and mouse breeding advice. The facility also offers whole-animal luminescence imaging.

Contact Us

For information about any of these services, email Mandy Houser in the Department of Comparative Medicine at mhouser@pennstatehealth.psu.edu.