NATIONAL NEED AND PRIORITIES FOR VETERINARIANS IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH
THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES PRESS
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NOTICE: The project that is the subject of this report was approved by the Governing Board of the National Research Council, whose members are drawn from the councils of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Engineering, and the Institute of Medicine. The members of the committee responsible for the report were chosen for their special competences and with regard for appropriate balance.
This study was supported by the American College for Laboratory Animal Medicine, the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics, the American Veterinary Medical Association, GlaxoSmithKline, Merck and Co., Pfizer, Inc, and Contract No. N01-OD-4-2139, Task Order 87 between the National Academy of Sciences and the National Institutes of Health. Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this publication are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the organizations or agencies that provided support for the project.
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THE NATIONAL ACADEMIES
Advisers to the Nation on Science, Engineering, and Medicine
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COMMITTEE ON INCREASING VETERINARY INVOLVEMENT IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH
James Fox (Chair),
Divisions of Comparative Medicine and Biological Engineering, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, Massachusetts
John Harkness,
Office of Research, Mississippi State University, Mississippi State, Mississippi
William Hill,
College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
Alan Kelly,
School of Veterinary Medicine, University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Kathy Laber,
Department of Comparative Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
Fred Quimby,
Laboratory Animal Research Center, Rockefeller University, New York, New York
Abigail Smith,
Laboratory Animal Health and Husbandry Research, The Jackson Laboratory, Bar Harbor, Maine
John Vandenbergh,
Department of Zoology, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
Staff
Jennifer Obernier, Study Director
Kathleen Beil, Administrative Assistant
Marsha Barrett, Project Assistant
Susan Vaupel, Editor
Norman Grossblatt, Senior Editor
INSTITUTE FOR LABORATORY ANIMAL RESEARCH COUNCIL
Peter A. Ward (Chair),
Department of Pathology, University of Michigan Medical School, Ann Arbor, Michigan
Stephen W. Barthold,
Center for Comparative Medicine, University of California, Davis, California
Rosemary W. Elliott,
Department of Molecular and Cellular Biology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, New York
Michael F. Festing,
Leicester, United Kingdom
Janet C. Gonder,
Pinehurst, North Carolina
Coenraad F.M. Hendriksen,
Central Animal Laboratories, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment, Bilthoven, Netherlands
Jay R. Kaplan,
Department of Comparative Medicine, Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Hilton J. Klein,
Department of Laboratory Animal Resources, Merck Research Laboratories, West Point, Pennsylvania
William Morton,
National Primate Research Center, University of Washington, Seattle, Washington
Randall J. Nelson,
Department of Anatomy and Neurobiology, University of Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee
Emilie F. Rissman,
Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, University of Virginia, Charlottesville, Virginia
Lilly-Marlene Russow,
Department of Philosophy, Purdue University, West Lafayette, Indiana
William S. Stokes,
Animal and Alternative Resources, National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
Michael K. Stoskopf,
College of Veterinary Medicine, North Carolina State University, Raleigh, North Carolina
Thomas Wolfle,
Cambridge, Maryland
Staff
Joanne Zurlo, Director
Ralph Dell, Associate Director
Jennifer Obernier, Study Director
Marsha Barrett, Senior Project Assistant
Kathleen Beil, Administrative Assistant
Susan Vaupel, Managing Editor,
ILAR Journal
Preface
The Committee on Increasing Veterinary Involvement in Biomedical Research was commissioned to examine a highly relevant issue facing the biomedical research community both in academia and industry: How can more veterinarians be prepared for careers in biomedical research?
A report written by Weigler et al. in 1997 concluded that the marketplace for veterinarians with specialty training in laboratory animal medicine had reached a steady state by 1995, when the national supply of and demand for veterinarians with this expertise were closely aligned (Weigler et al., 1997). Their analysis suggested that the balance of supply and demand would not change in any substantive way in the years 1995-2005. However, their report could not predict several pivotal issues that changed the need for veterinarians trained for careers in biomedical research. One of the most compelling was the dramatic increase in the use of genetically engineered animals, particularly mice. Such use has escalated during the last 5 years, further fueled by the publication of the mouse and human genomes. It has been estimated that 60 million genetically engineered mice may be needed to study every gene in the mouse genome (Knight and Abbott, 2002). The rapid increase in rodent-based biomedical research is accompanied by the need to monitor and prevent the introduction of infectious agents into established rodent colonies and biologic products that are shipped in increasing numbers nationally and internationally.
Translational research, in which knowledge derived from molecular and cellular biology is being applied in studies involving systems and integrative biology, is burgeoning. Those applications rely heavily on the use of
animals, particularly rodents. Indeed, between 1990 and 2002, there was a 60% increase in the number of competitive grants that utilize animals.
All those factors in the aggregate have affected the need for veterinarians with specialty training in biomedical research, and the supply of veterinarians with this training has not kept pace with demand. Compounding the increased need for veterinary scientists’ involvement in biomedical research is the ever-increasing requirement of veterinarian oversight of compliance with state and federal regulations regarding animal-based research. This report is intended to document the need for veterinarians with specialty training and to recommend ways to alleviate the veterinary personnel shortage.
The committee acknowledges the assistance and advice offered by various people who provided their time, professional experience, and insight. On October 4, 2002, several individuals with acknowledged expertise in academic veterinary medicine or biomedical research and in training of veterinarians in biomedical research delivered formal presentations to the committee and other interested parties who attended the open session of the committee’s first scheduled meeting. The committee appreciates their thoughtful and informative presentations.
Linda Cork, Department of Comparative Medicine, School of Medicine, Stanford University, Stanford, California
Henry Baker, Scott-Ritchey Research Center, Auburn University, Auburn, Alabama
Fern Tablin, Department of Anatomy, Physiology, and Cell Biology, University of California, Davis, California
Douglas McGregor, College of Veterinary Medicine, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York
Joseph Bielitzki, Metabolic Engineering Program, Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency, Arlington, Virginia
We also acknowledge the financial support of the following institutions: The American College for Laboratory Animal Medicine; the American Society for Pharmacology and Experimental Therapeutics; the American Veterinary Medical Association; GlaxoSmithKline; Merck and Co., Inc.; NIH; and Pfizer, Inc. Representatives of some of those organizations provided critical data for the committee:
Lynn Anderson, Merck and Co., Inc., Rahway, New Jersey
Nelson Garnett, Office of Laboratory Animal Welfare, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland
Franziska Grieder, National Center for Research Resources, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland
John Strandberg, National Center for Research Resources, NIH, Bethesda, Maryland
Mary Ann Vasbinder, GlaxoSmithKline, Research Triangle Park, North Carolina
Two other colleagues, Ben Weigler and Leslie Colby, were extremely helpful in providing survey data that they had gathered and tabulated on laboratory animal veterinary personnel needs.
This report has been reviewed in draft form by individuals chosen for their diverse perspective and technical expertise, in accordance with procedures approved by the NRC’s Report Review Committee. The purpose of this independent review is to provide candid and critical comments that will assist the institution in making its published report as sound as possible and to ensure that the report meets institutional standards for objectivity, evidence, and responsiveness to the study charge. The review comments and draft manuscript remain confidential to protect the integrity of the deliberative process. We wish to thank the following individuals for their review of this report:
William J. Heuston, Department of Family Medicine, Medical University of South Carolina, Charleston, South Carolina
Robert O. Jacoby, School of Medicine, Yale University, New Haven, Connecticut
Leticia V. Medina, Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Illinois
John G. Miller, AAALAC International, Rockville, Maryland
Nathaniel Powell, Jr., Army Veterinary Corps, Fort Detrick, Maryland
Glenn A. Reinhart, Pharmaceutical Products Division, Abbott Laboratories, Abbott Park, Illinois
Janice D. Wagner, Department of Comparative Medicine, Bowman Gray School of Medicine, Wake Forest University, Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Although the reviewers listed above have provided many constructive comments and suggestions, they were not asked to endorse the conclusions or recommendations nor did they see the final draft of the report before its release. The review of this report was overseen by:
Harold J. Fallon, University of Alabama, School of Medicine (emeritus), Birmingham, Alabama
William R. Brinkley, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas
Appointed by the National Research Council, they were responsible for making certain that an independent examination of this report was carried
out in accordance with institutional procedures and that all review comments were carefully considered. Responsibility for the final content of this report rests entirely with the authoring committee and the institution.
I extend my deep appreciation to the committee members, staff, and those who presented information at our initial committee meeting. Members of the committee devoted considerable time and effort in deliberating on and analyzing the data included in this report. I also want to thank the reviewers for their timely and thoughtful comments; their insightful comments enhanced the value of this report. I particularly want to acknowledge the considerable skills and tireless efforts of Jennifer Obernier in assembling and composing the committee report. Kathleen Beil provided logistical support by arranging travel and lodging throughout, which made the committee’s tasks easier. Thanks are also extended to Marsha Barrett and Stephanie Thuemmler, who provided project support and assisted in generating the graphics in the report, and to Norman Grossblatt and Susan Vaupel, who edited the manuscript. And I also thank Joanne Zurlo and Ralph Dell for providing counsel to the committee during its deliberations.
James Fox, Chair
Committee on Increasing Veterinary
Involvement in Biomedical Research
Contents
TABLES AND FIGURES
FIGURE 2-1 |
Historical trends of animal use in NIH grant portfolio, |
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FIGURE 2-2 |
Total budget for the National Institutes of Health, by fiscal year, |
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TABLE 2-1 |
Active ACLAM Diplomates, |
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FIGURE 2-3 |
Number of position announcements for laboratory animal medicine veterinarians, 1980-2001, |
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TABLE 2-2 |
Active ACVP Diplomates, |
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FIGURE 2-4 |
Annual budgets of NIH, NCRR, and NCRR Division of Comparative Medicine, |
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FIGURE 2-5 |
RO1 grant awards categorized by degree of principal investigator, |
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TABLE 3-1 |
Clinical Residency Programs in Laboratory Animal Medicine, |
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FIGURE 3-1 |
Number of individuals that completed a residency in laboratory animal medicine at an ACLAM-recognized program, |
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FIGURE 3-2 |
Type of veterinary pathology training program by specialty, |
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TABLE 3-2 |
PhD Programs in Comparative Medicine, Biomedical Science, Pathology/Pathobiology, or Laboratory Animal Science at Veterinary Medical Colleges or Schools and Departments of Veterinary Science or Comparative Medicine, |
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TABLE 3-3 |
NRSA: Institutional Research Training Grant (T32) Awards Funded by NCRR, 1994-2002, |
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TABLE 3-4 |
Biologic Terrorism Agents List, |
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TABLE 4-1 |
NRSA: Professional Student Short-Term Research Training Grant (T35) Awards Funded by NCRR, 1995-2002, |
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TABLE 4-2 |
NRSA: Individual Research Training Grant (F32) Awards Funded by NCRR, 1995-2002, |
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FIGURE 4-1 |
Total NIH grant awards versus NIH grant awards to veterinary schools, |
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TABLE 4-3 |
Special Emphasis Research Career Award (K01). SERCA Awards Funded by NCRR, 1995-2002, |
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TABLE 4-4 |
Mean Number of Employment Advertisements per Year (± SEM), by Sector, from COMPMED List-serv in 1999-2002, |
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TABLE 4-5 |
Employers of active ACLAM diplomates by sector, |