5. Seeing New Perspectives

02/13/20 • 35 min

Lab Rat Chat - Episode 05 with Dr. Rick Born, Professor of Neurobiology at Harvard University and member of Society for Neuroscience
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In this episode of Lab Rat Chat, Jeff and Danielle's conversation with Dr. Born delves into a variety of topics including amazing medical discoveries and even advances in everyday technology that have come from animal research. Dr. Born talks about the role of The Society for Neuroscience in promoting responsible animal research as well as their resources to help protect their members facing opposition from animal rights groups.
Topics discussed in this episode:

Dr. Rick Born’s journey through medical school and beyond, leading to his current position at Harvard University.
Information on The Society for Neuroscience and their role in advancing science and promoting responsible animal research
Amazing contributions to medicine and technology attributed to the use of animals in research
The basics of Dr. Born’s research of the visual system and why this requires the use of non-human primates in order to help us understand vision
An introduction to our listeners about some of the various levels of extremism researchers have faced from animal rights groups
Ways the research community can continue to improve in furthering the trust of the public

Notable quotes:

“It’s important for ordinary people to see that scientists are also ordinary people. We have wives and children, and dogs for pets, and we live in your neighborhood. We believe that what we’re doing is important and justified and humane.”

“Again, it goes to show how deep and necessary animal research is to the entire biomedical enterprise, and not limited to humans, but including the benefits that go to our pets as well.”

“All the software that recognizes you when you’re on Facebook, when you post a picture to Facebook...it recognizes you because it’s using algorithms that were directly patterned after what we’ve learned about vision from the Macaque [monkey] visual system.”

Resources & Links:

The Society for Neuroscience (https://www.sfn.org/)
Americans for Medical Progress (https://www.amprogress.org/)
Come See Our World (https://www.comeseeourworld.org/)
PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (https://olaw.nih.gov/policies-laws/phs-policy.htm)
Animal Welfare Act (https://www.nal.usda.gov/awic

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Dr. Rick Born’s journey through medical school and beyond, leading to his current position at Harvard University.
Information on The Society for Neuroscience and their role in advancing science and promoting responsible animal research
Amazing contributions to medicine and technology attributed to the use of animals in research
The basics of Dr. Born’s research of the visual system and why this requires the use of non-human primates in order to help us understand vision
An introduction to our listeners about some of the various levels of extremism researchers have faced from animal rights groups
Ways the research community can continue to improve in furthering the trust of the public

Notable quotes:

“Again, it goes to show how deep and necessary animal research is to the entire biomedical enterprise, and not limited to humans, but including the benefits that go to our pets as well.”

Resources & Links:

The Society for Neuroscience (https://www.sfn.org/)
Americans for Medical Progress (https://www.amprogress.org/)
Come See Our World (https://www.comeseeourworld.org/)
PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (https://olaw.nih.gov/policies-laws/phs-policy.htm)
Animal Welfare Act (https://www.nal.usda.gov/awic

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4. Going Above and Beyond the Standards

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Lab Rat Chat - Episode 04 with Dr. Helen Diggs, Senior Director of AAALAC International

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In this fourth episode of Lab Rat Chat, Jeff and Danielle talk with Dr. Helen Diggs about why this organization has been so critical to the continued evolution of animal care and use standards. Listen and find out about some of the amazing efforts institutions put forth in order to obtain this voluntary accreditation.
Topics discussed in this episode:

Dr. Helen Diggs' interesting background working in Alaska, which involved working with polar bears and wolves!
The role of AAALAC International
A brief overview of the process to obtain AAALAC International accreditation
Common findings during AAALAC International triennial site visit assessments

Notable quotes:

“It was an amazing introduction to veterinary medicine, they cared for a wide variety of species - wolves, lemmings, a polar bear, arctic foxes, and they studied diseases that are widespread in the Alaskan animal population...”

“AAALAC International promotes the responsible treatment and care of animals used in science through a voluntary, rigorous assessment and accreditation program. ”

“Accredited institutions understand that meritorious, reproducible science depends on superb, consistent animal care. ”

Resources & Links:

Americans for Medical Progress (https://www.amprogress.org/)
AAALAC International (https://www.aaalac.org)
PHS Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals (https://olaw.nih.gov/policies-laws/phs-policy.htm)
Animal Welfare Act (https://www.nal.usda.gov/awic/animal-welfare-act)

All Lab Rat Chat episodes are edited by Audionauts: https://audionauts.pro/

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6. Monkey See, Monkey Do, Monkey Cure

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Lab Rat Chat - Episode 06 with Dr. Rudolf Bohm, Associate Director and Chief Veterinary Medical Officer at the Tulane National Primate Research Center
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In this episode of Lab Rat Chat, Jeff and Danielle talk with Dr. Rudolf Bohm from the Tulane National Primate Research Center (TNPRC). We cover a variety of topics in this one, including the basics of using monkeys in research, to TNPRC’s vaccine development work for the new coronavirus (COVID-19), to what the daily life of a monkey is like within the TNPRC.
Topics discussed in this episode:

Dr. Bohm’s journey through veterinary school and beyond, leading to his current position at the Tulane National Primate Research Center.
Why non-human primates (monkeys) are so critical to the field of biomedical research.
Amazing contributions to medicine and technology attributed to the use of monkeys in research.
TNPRC’s efforts in developing an animal model for the new coronavirus causing COVID-19 and the work to be done in discovering potential vaccine candidates for COVID-19.
The daily life of a monkey living within the TNPRC facilities and the amazing level of care and compassion that goes in to caring for them in ways you’ve never imagined.

Notable quotes:

“We developed a much better test to detect Lyme disease in both humans and in pet dogs...so that one actually did benefit pets directly which was probably the first time we’ve seen that happen, something move from primates to dogs”

Regarding coronavirus (COVID-19) - “Really there are a lot of unanswered questions, such as how is it transmitted and how long after infection is it transmitted, how much virus is excreted, and so those are the kinds of things we can answer in animal studies that you can’t answer in human studies because you don’t know when humans are infected...”

“Our approach is not just to throw a toy in a cage or try something new because we think it’s going to work. We do it in a limited fashion, and we collect data, and we assess the data because we want to do things that are going to improve their welfare...”

Resources & Links: