Animal Resources Centre

University Health Network, Toronto, Ontario
What the facility does

Houses multi-species research animals and assists with all aspects of animal research from budgeting and procurement to a wide range of technical services.

Areas of expertise

We offer a wide range of services to support clients who use animal models for biomedical research in human diseases. We are one of Canada’s largest centres, with more than 100,000 sq. ft. of world-class accredited facility space spanning multiple sites. Our professional staff has experience with multi-species models and can provide consultation and technical services with your research studies.

Research services

Veterinary consulting (including 24-hour, 7-day-a-week veterinary care, support for grant applications, model selection, anaesthesia, analgesia, surgical intervention, imaging, procedural techniques), vivarium operational review, vivarium facilities design, surgical and animal care workshops, animal care. Multiple imaging modalities are available through the Advanced Optical Microscopy Facility (AOMF) and the Spatio-Temporal Targeting and Amplification of Radiation Response Innovation Centre (STTARR).

Sectors of application
  • Agriculture, animal science and food
  • Life sciences, pharmaceuticals and medical equipment

Specialized lab 

Equipment

Function

Surgical suites and procedural areas

Operating Rooms (ORs) with cameras

Full anesthesia and monitoring provided from start to finish. Full surgical and procedural support for both large and small animal models.

 

Surgical scopes

 

 

Dissecting scopes

 

Containment BSL2

Isolation cubicles 

Ability to carry out any Biosafety Level 2 (BSL2) work on a variety of small and large animal models

Immune-deficient mouse model

In-house supply of immunodeficient mouse models

Full ability to support xenograft and other immunodeficient mouse model work

Barrier breeding

Exclusion barriers

Expertise in rodent breeding under regular barrier conditions

Veterinary consult and model selection

Housing for multiple species types

Veterinarians available for consultation on model development and/or experimental protocol

Radiation

Cesium Irradiator

Available for cell or animal irradiation

 

X-RAD Biological Irradiator

Available for cell or animal irradiation