WARD K. KICHTEK 
1069 
rooms are available for large and small animal 
medical problems. 
At the present time the staff includes eight 
individuals with a D.V.M. degree, one with an 
M.D. degree and two with Ph.D. degrees. They 
contribute all or a part of their effort to one or 
more of the four basic missions of the program. 
In addition, there are four veterinarians who 
are graduate students and one M.D. -Ph.D. stu- 
dent contributing heavily to the operation of 
the support laboratory. Eight to ten full-time 
technicians and several part-time technicians 
are employed. The professional staff has 
specialty training or graduate training in lab- 
oratory animal medicine, veterinary and com- 
parative pathology, oncology, radiology, radio- 
biology, pharmacology and toxicology. Many 
technical skills are represented in the group. 
Service Activities 
Two of the missions of the laboratory are 
service in nature. This includes the diagnostic 
support of the animal facilities of the Univer- 
sity of Chicago and the diagnostic referral cen- 
ter for other investigators in the Chicago area. 
The services provided are listed in part as fol- 
lows : 
1. Post-mortem evaluation is done on all ani- 
mals which die in the facility and the depth of 
the examination is determined by the patholo- 
gist in consultation with the clinical veterinar- 
ian or the investigator. Clinically ill animals 
are sacrificed for post-mortem evaluation when 
indicated. 
2. Selected specimens of new shipments of 
animals, especially rodents, are examined to 
determine the base line of spontaneous disease 
and as an aid in evaluating their health status 
during the quarantine period. 
3. Post-mortem examination is performed on 
selected control animals at the end of experi- 
mentation (with cooperation of the investiga- 
tor) to determine the disease status of these 
animals after housing in the facility for a period 
of time. This is compared to their status at 
time of arrival to evaluate the effectiveness of 
disease control in the facility. 
4. The microbiology service conducts a lim- 
ited survey of infections and their antibiotic 
sensitivity in the various species of animals. 
This service is not fully developed but we have 
just initiated a program to survey the bacterial 
contaminants of the rooms, cages, water bottles 
and utensils used in the different sections of 
the animal facilities. 
5. The clinical laboratory is used for clinical 
diagnosis and as a quality control for the condi- 
tioning of dogs, cats and primates. Before re- 
lease from quarantine all of these species are 
given a complete clinical work-up and at various 
times during the quarantine, selected clinical 
tests are utilized as an aid in the control of 
parasites and infectious disease. 
6. A valuable service of the staff is in rela- 
tion to consultation with investigators on the 
use of animal models, experimental design, dis- 
ease control and evaluation of experimental re- 
sults when complicated by disease. This may in- 
clude assistance in post-mortem examination 
and aid in teaching animal techniques. 
Research Activities 
A partial listing of previous or current re- 
search demonstrates what a well equipped lab- 
oratory can contribute in an animal facility. 
1. The largest and the most productive re- 
search effort of the group is a program on the 
development and definition of animal models for 
the study of carcinogens and the process of 
carcinogenesis. 
2. Another group has been investigating 
models for the study of bladder cancer. This has 
included a comparative study of bladder ultra- 
structure in many species, and the pathogenesis 
of tumors produced by dibutylnitrosamine in 
the urinary bladder. There are significant mor- 
phologic differences between primate bladder 
and rodent bladder suggesting that the potential 
for a different response to carcinogens exists. 
3. The gerbil has been investigated as a pos- 
sible model for renal carcinogenesis and as a 
model for the study of the selective toxicity of 
lead in the kidney. The urine concentrating 
ability of this species provides some advantages 
in the study of the mechanisms of lead injury. 
4. Basic reactions of the pancreas at the 
ultrastructural level are being studied to aid in 
the development of a model for cystic fibrosis, 
a disease without a known animal model. 
