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VA Animal Research Program

VA Animal Research Program

Animal research has saved the lives of millions of Veterans, and will continue to do so.

Overview of Animal Research in VA

To conduct the research needed to improve medical care, we sometimes have to work with animal models. Studying animals is still the only scientifically viable way to get some of the knowledge we need to improve human health, and indeed the health of other animals that benefit from veterinary care. VA allows research with animals only if it is scientifically necessary and if animal-welfare safeguards are adhered to.


COVID-19 and VA Animal Care and Use Programs

The latest version of guidance for VA animal research programs regarding prevention of COVID-19 impacts is available here in the form of an FAQ. It covers protection of animal care staff, strategies to reduce potential impacts on studies and facilities, and latest guidance on conducting IACUC meetings and semi-annual self-assessments, and what to do about upcoming scheduled AAALAC visits. A May 26th, 2020, memo with guidance on resuming field animal research activities is available here.


The VA PTSD/Service Dog Study

Information about this study is available here.

ABOUT ANIMAL RESEARCH IN VA

MORE ABOUT ANIMAL RESEARCH

Resources for Administrators and Researchers

RESEARCH GUIDANCE

More Guidance

RELATED DOCUMENTS

More Documents

Recent News About Animal Research

VA Research Currents and VA news releases

Brain trauma: Combined treatment improves cell connectivity in important memory center of the brain, (Oct. 30, 2020)

Does smoking block potential benefits from stem cell therapy? (Sept. 1, 2020)

Lab study suggests way to stem long-term damage after brain injury (June 11, 2020)

Lab study: E-cigarettes may damage body’s ability to fight infection (Jan. 15, 2020)

Comprehending the effects of blasts (June 27, 2019)

More


VA Research news briefs

Gene therapy could prevent learning and memory loss from Alzheimer’s disease (May 11, 2021)

Stem cell therapy offers potential treatment for ischemia (April 6, 2021)

Process behind kidney stone formation (March 31, 2021)

Bacteria immunization may improve stress response (Feb. 10, 2021)

Study: Shock waves can cause structural brain damage (Feb. 2, 2021)

Lab study sheds light on insomnia caused by alcohol withdrawal (Dec. 22, 2020)

New technique could improve wound healing (Dec. 10, 2020)

More

Cigarette smoke makes lung infection bacteria more dangerous (Oct. 28, 2020)

Potential new migraine medication developed (Aug. 12, 2020)

Possible molecular link between nonalcoholic fatty liver disease and cancer (July 22, 2020)

Exercise training reduces protein linked to muscle pain (June 23, 2020)

Stem cells accelerate diabetic wound healing in mouse model (April 10, 2020)

Possible biomarkers of traumatic brain injury identified (March 6, 2020)

Understanding chemotherapy-resistant lung cancer (Jan. 30, 2020)

E-cigarettes may make it harder for the body to fight off infection (Nov. 18, 2019)

Mouse study explores benefits of calorie restriction (Nov. 1, 2019)

Dietary oils could help with diabetic nerve damage (Oct. 28, 2019)

Mouse study: Potential stroke treatment only effective in males (Sept. 26, 2019)

Mouse study probes nicotine addiction from e-cigarettes (August 15, 2019)

Rat study: Single injection protects against TBI damage in short term (June 27, 2019)

Pinpointing genetic targets for meth addiction (May 29, 2019)

Molecular delivery system takes arthritis drugs directly to joints (April 11, 2019)

Rat study: Brain injury can cause PTSD without psychological stressors (Feb. 14, 2019)

Understanding a cause of aortic aneurysm (March 8, 2019)

Study sheds light on pesticides-Alzheimer’s link (March 13, 2019)

Sedative prevents neuron cell growth after TBI (April 5, 2019)

Molecular delivery system takes arthritis drugs directly to joints (April 11, 2019)

Molecular brain damage after blast exposure (Dec. 26, 2018)

Lab study suggests heart benefits from widely used diabetes drug (Dec. 20, 2018)

Mouse study: Aspirin may slow multiple sclerosis (Nov. 29, 2018)


News from our research partners

VUMC team develops potential treatment for life-threatening microbial inflammation (June 9, 2021 – Vanderbilt University Medical Center

Novel immunotherapy boosts long-term stroke recovery in mice (May 19, 2021 – University of Pittsburgh)

CDK inhibitors may improve immune therapy effectiveness for recurrent breast cancer (May 10, 2021 – Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center)

Gene therapy in Alzheimer’s disease mouse model preserves learning and memory (May 4, 2021 – University of California San Diego)

Novel drug prevents amyloid plaques, a hallmark of Alzheimer’s disease (March 2, 2021 – University of California San Diego)

Swapping alpha cells for beta cells to treat diabetes (March 1, 2021 – UT Southwestern Medical Center)

Phages can anticipate bacteria’s location and destroy them before they cause an infection (Feb. 9, 2021 – Baylor College of Medicine)

Iowa and Ohio team finds strategy to protect developing brain from prenatal stress in mice (Jan. 29, 2021 – University of Iowa Health Care)

New pathway in development of Alzheimer’s disease discovered, providing earlier target for potential therapeutics (Dec. 2, 2020 – Case Western Reserve University)

More

VA funds UW-Madison School of Veterinary Medicine cancer study in dogs (nbc15.com) (March 17, 2021 - University of Wisconsin - Madison School of Veterinary Medicine)

Diabetes dramatically reduces the kidney's ability clean itself (Sept. 22, 2020 – Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University)

Penn researchers discover potential cause of immunotherapy-related neurotoxicity (Sept. 11, 2020 – University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine)

Implanted neural stem cell grafts show functionality in spinal cord injuries (Aug. 5, 2020 – University of California, San Diego)

Retinitis pigmentosa research probes role of the enzyme DHDDS in this genetic disease ( June 11, 2020 – University of Alabama at Birmingham)

LSU Health study suggests nicotine exposure alone leads to pulmonary hypertension (May 1, 2020 – Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center)

When damaged, the adult brain repairs itself by going back to the beginning (April 15, 2020 –UC San Diego Health)

LSU Health New Orleans research shows how stress remodels the brain (April 14, 2020 – Louisiana State University Health Science Center)

Exercise restores youthful properties to muscle stem cells of old mice in Stanford study (April 13, 2020 – Stanford Medicine)

Lipid helps heal the eye’s frontline protection (March 26, 2020 – Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University)

Brain scan-blood test panel to help diagnose brain trauma following battlefield blasts (Feb. 24, 2020 – Mount Sinai School of Medicine)

Lipid signaling from beta cells can potentiate an inflammatory macrophage polarization (Feb. 21, 2020 – University of Alabama at Birmingham)

Mouse study shows nerve signaling pathway critical to healing fractures (Dec. 5, 2019 – Johns Hopkins Medicine)

Phage therapy shows promise for alcoholic liver disease (Nov. 13, 2019 – University of California San Diego)

Study: Rapamycin prevents age-related brain vascular deterioration (Nov. 6, 2019 – University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio)

Mounting brain organoid research reignites ethical debate (Oct. 3, 2019 – University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine)

Key to learning and forgetting identified in sleeping brain (Oct. 3, 2019 – University of California San Francisco)

Bone, not adrenaline, drives fight of flight response (Sept. 12, 2019 – Columbia University Irving Medical Center)

Receptor protein in brain promotes resilience to stress (Sept. 3, 2019 – Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia)

Study reveals a short bout of exercise enhances brain function (July 8, 2019 – Oregon Health & Science University)

Early life exposure to nicotine alters neurons, predisposes brain to addiction later (May 21, 2019 – University of California-Dan Diego)

Pigment-producing stem cells can regenerate vital part of nervous system (May 6, 2019 - University of Maryland)

Scientists find new therapy target for drug-induced liver failure (March 6, 2019 - Experimental Biology)

Blocking protein's activity restores cognition in old mice, Stanford study shows (April 3, 2019 - Stanford Medicine)

Cancer prevention drug also disables H. pylori bacterium (March 28, 2019 - Vanderbilt University Medical Center)

Researchers discover a critical receptor involved in response to antidepressants like ketamine (March 28, 2019 - University of Maryland School of Medicine)

Researchers identify brain protein crucial to recovery from stroke (Feb. 11, 2019 - University of Pittsburgh)

Kidney-resident macrophages -- a role for healing during acute kidney injury? (Jan. 24, 2019 - University of Alabama at Birmingham)

Discovery of enhanced bone growth could lead to new treatments for osteoporosis (Jan. 17, 2019 - University of California, Los Angeles)

Scientists connect dots between colitis and colon cancer (Jan. 14, 2019 - Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University)

Activated PMN exosomes are pathogenic entities that cause destruction in the COPD lung (Jan. 11, 2019 - University of Alabama at Birmingham)

Stem cell-derived neurons stop seizures and improve cognitive function (Dec. 20, 2018 - Texas A&M University)

Successful bladder repair using silk fibroid scaffolds (Dec. 10, 2018 - Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News)

Lipid that aids normal skin turnover may help psoriasis (Nov. 27, 2018 - Medical College of Georgia at August University)

Treating spinal pain with replacement discs made of 'engineered living tissue' moves closer to reality (Nov. 21, 2018 - University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine)

Modeling the most common form of vision loss in older adults (Nov. 21, 2018 - University of Pennsylvania)

Anti-inflammatory drug effective for treating lymphedema symptoms (Oct. 18, 2018 - Stanford Medicine)

Hit 'em where they eat: Stealth drug fights resistant bacteria (Sept. 26, 2018 - University of Washington Health Sciences)

Being older helps skin heal with less scarring, and now researchers know why (Sept. 26, 2018 - University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine)

Skin wounds in older mice are less likely to scar (Sept. 25, 2018 - Cell Press)

New drug blocks pancreatic cancer growth in mice, study finds (Sept. 25, 2018 - Cedars-Sinai Medical Center)

Small molecule plays big role in weaker bones as we age (Sept. 18, 2018 - Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University)

A 'reset' of regulatory T-cells reverses chronic heart failure in mouse model (Sept. 10, 2018 - University of Alabama at Birmingham)

UA researchers to study, test potential drug candidates for deadly lung disease (Sept. 5, 2018 - University of Arizona Health Sciences)

Hormone therapy can make prostate cancer worse, study finds (Sept. 4, 2018 - Cedars-Sinai Medical Center)

New drug blocks pancreatic cancer growth in mice, study finds (Sept. 25, 2018 - Cedars-Sinai Medical Center)

Small molecule plays big role in weaker bones as we age (Sept. 18, 2018 - Medical College of Georgia at Augusta University)

A 'reset' of regulatory T-cells reverses chronic heart failure in mouse model (Sept. 10, 2018 - University of Alabama at Birmingham)

UA researchers to study, test potential drug candidates for deadly lung disease (Sept. 5, 2018 - University of Arizona Health Sciences)

Hormone therapy can make prostate cancer worse, study finds (Sept. 4, 2018 - Cedars-Sinai Medical Center)



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Any health information on this website is strictly for informational purposes and is not intended as medical advice. It should not be used to diagnose or treat any condition.