Facility overview

Improving human health through preclinical trials in mouse models of human disease

The goal of our facility is to provide expertise in the design and implementation of preclinical trials to test new drugs, drug combinations, and novel therapeutic modalities in mouse models of human diseases.

In the last decade, substantial advances in technology have allowed us to gain powerful insight into the molecular and genetic determinants that drive human diseases. Mouse models have been at the forefront of this revolution enabling us to faithfully recapitulate the features of many human diseases. Importantly, not only do mouse models represent an invaluable tool to study genetic alterations associated with diseases, but they also represent an excellent platform for the pre-clinical assessment of new drugs and other therapeutic approaches aimed at eradication of disease.

Harnessing these models for therapeutic gain will have an important impact on human health, as results will be utilized to facilitate the identification of patient subtype through key genetic determinants and biomarkers that predict response to specific treatments.

How this works

• An investigator has an idea for a new preclinical trial and takes it to the Core Director for consultation.
• The Core Director provides advice in the design of the study and the development of operational plans to implement the protocol.
• Core staff reaches out to source appropriate in vivo and in vitro model systems and facilitates study initiation.  
• When the efficacy of a treatment can be monitored by imaging (such as micro-MRI, micro-PET, etc), the core staff will also facilitate the reaching of the appropriate imaging facility.
• Highly trained/experienced staff will follow standardized procedures, minimizing intra-experimental variation, to carry out each protocol, harvest blood/tissue (as applicable), forward samples to relevant cores, provide reports of data and/or any relevant information relating to what occurred on each study.