BRF Update - November 2020
2020 has gone by in a crazy rush! We have a number of updates including end of year shutdown deadlines as follows – please take note and plan your work accordingly.
End of year shutdown dates
The BRF will be performing a full facility cage change (instead of our regular half facility change) the week of 21st to 24th December, to enable minimal staffing during the shutdown, so services will be limited on this week. Our shutdown will be 25th Dec to 3rd Jan. Regular rostering will re-commence Monday 4th January.
Breeder pair setups – to minimise the number of litters that will be born and need weaning and sampling during the shutdown, we ask that if possible there are no breeder setup requests for the dates 7th to 20th November. Breeders can be set up again 23rd Nov until 11th Dec (for actioning the following week). We will not be able to guarantee breeder setups will be able to be performed from 21st Dec to 1st Jan, but you are welcome to send them through, for actioning from 4th Jan onwards.
Breeding culls – The last day that we will accept requests for these before the shutdown is 11th Dec, for actioning by the following week. We will not be able to guarantee actioning any requests received after this date, until the week starting 4th Jan onwards.
Sampling (toeing/ear notching) for genotyping – we will continue to perform these as normal wherever possible.
Collection of blood for genotyping – The last day that we will accept requests for these before the shutdown is 11th Dec, for actioning by the following week. We will not be able to guarantee actioning any requests received after this date, until the week starting 4th Jan onwards.
Internal transfers (moving animals from breeding colonies at TRI to experimental rooms at TRI) - The last day that we will accept requests for these before the shutdown is 11th Dec, for actioning by the following week. We will not be able to guarantee actioning any requests received after this date, until the week starting 4th Jan onwards.
ARC animal order deliveries – the last despatch of animals from ARC will be on Thursday 17th Dec, so orders must be received by Monday 14th Dec. The first delivery in 2021 will be arriving Thurs 7th January.
Animal movement requests (to/from TRI to other UQ facilities such as AIBN) – I recommend that all requests are sent through by 11th Dec, for actioning by the following week as there will be no movement of animals to/from other facilities between Christmas and New Years Day.
Technical services – 21st Dec to 3rd Jan – An additional x3 multiplier on top of existing rates (e.g. a weekend booking x2 in this period would be x6) and additional justification and approvals will be required. Please note we may not have staff available for some techniques.
Updates from the UQBR Director
Research Infrastructure Guide to Grants
Please note that the Research Infrastructure Guide to Grants page, has been updated for UQ Central Research Platforms and NCRIS Facilities.
https://research.uq.edu.au/research-infrastructure/guide-to-grants
Additional information on the broader UQ equipment/infrastructure capabilities can be found on the UQ Research website.
https://research.uq.edu.au/about/equipment-infrastructure
Reproducibility webinar
Charles River Laboratories recently provided a webinar titled Mouse Study Reproducibility: The Impact of Genetic Background and Genotyping (webinar on demand).
This webinar highlighted the surprising frequency with inconsistencies of strain background and genotyping results across the industry.
UQBR have a number of supporting services that are discussed in the webinar, including genotyping services through AEGRC and cryopreservation services through TASQ. AEGRC are investigating the option of ddPCR and we would certainly appreciate any QLD based contacts who may be using this technology.
The last item of note is that ARC have confirmed they routinely refresh their C57BL/6J line (and others), with the last introduction of pedigree breeders from Jax being May 2019. The 2011 paper mentioned in the presentation may create some confusion.
Display of genotypes on Mosaic
UQBR and the Mosaic developer are working urgently through some reported issues in the animal worksheet, whereby the alleles do not always display in the same order when the ‘combined’ view is selected for genotypes, as well as the overall order of the alleles in the ‘separated’ view does not always match the order of the alleles in the strain name. Please take care to use the ‘separated’ view when looking at genotypes and take care to note the column headers for the alleles. If you have any concerns or further issues please report them immediately.
BRF Staffing updates
I would like to congratulate Brad Buchan on being successfully appointed to the Senior Animal Technical Officer (HEW 5) position. We are looking forward to having Brad’s experience and collaborative approach in this role J
As Brad is currently fulfilling the acting Senior Animal Research Coordinator role whilst Karen is on maternity leave (she is due to return in February), this has effectively created a vacant acting role for the HEW 5 position from now until Karen returns from leave. I would like to congratulate Aimee Scott on being appointed to this acting role – Aimee has been doing a fantastic job providing cover on a variety of responsibilities whilst Brad is away J Aimee started in the acting HEW 5 role as of Monday and will continue until Karen returns from maternity leave.
We are still working through a number of evolving staffing challenges with different team members needing to be away on leave and recruitment processes to complete, so unfortunately we are still in the situation where there may delays in responses to enquiries and requests for services whilst we prioritise animal care, team safety and priority services. I sincerely apologise for any inconveniences caused.
