BRF Update - April 2019
Live webinar on pain and distress with Guest Speaker Professor Paul Flecknell – 2pm 8th April, TRI Seminar 2003 or AIBN seminar room #75
We are very excited to invite you to a live webinar (first of 3) with Professor Paul Flecknell, a Laboratory Animal Medicine and Veterinary Anaesthesia specialist. Paul has extensive experience and publications on anaesthesia and pain management and has developed free online training modules that are used internationally, such as the Flaire elearning courses that are covered in the BRF Induction training. Further information on this and the subsequent webinars (on Harm-Benefit and Refinements, then Animal Monitoring) are attached to the update email sent out along with a calendar invitation. All UQBR staff and Researchers are welcome to attend – no RSVP is necessary and there will be no cost to attend.
Christa Singh – resignation
I regret to announce that Christa Singh has resigned and her last day will be Friday 5th April. Those of you who have worked with Christa will know that she is a fantastic technician – she has always worked very hard, with excellent communication skills and professional manner, managing a variety of more complex responsibilities and services. Christa has been successful in a new position to further her career which is well deserved, so big congratulations are in order – she will be missed! Christa’s position will be advertised shortly on UQ Jobs/Seek.
‘BRF Induction’ online training
As communicated in previous updates, we have nearly finished inviting existing personnel (based on card access records) to the online BRF induction training courses. Completion of these courses will become a mandatory requirement for all existing BRF users and staff, in order to meet our legislative requirements to have evidence of training and competency of personnel working with research animals. Unfortunately we do not have an easy way to identify and prove existing competency for users (we see a real variety of issues experienced across both new and experienced personnel), so this does mean for some experienced users that they do need to go through some content that they may already be very familiar with. Your feedback and patience with this process is very much appreciated – we have made changes to these courses based on initial feedback and feedback from new users throughout the last few months and will continue to update the courses accordingly.
Please note that you have up to 2 months to complete the courses before we will review records and remove BRF card access for those who have not completed the training – so please do not feel any pressure to complete these in a hurry.
The main queries we have received have been around:
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If you do not require card access to the BRF, then you do not need to complete these courses – email [email protected] to be taken off the course list
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The course ‘expiry’ date is when access to the course will cease – it is more of a ‘due date’
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The online ‘Flaire’ elearning courses do require good internet speeds and the right web browser to load – avoid Firefox and try using Chrome. I have been in contact with the course developers to notify them of issues, some of which they have been able to rectify
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Email [email protected] if you run into any issues or have any further questions
Emergency stop button for air showers
An emergency stop button has been added to the air showers – this will cut power to the airshowers and unlock them entirely in the case of emergencies, particularly when there is an evacuation, or when the doors do not unlock for any reason. Please do not press this button outside of these situations.
Techniplast washroom excellence workshop – Friday 5th April
We are very proud to be hosting attendees from a wide range of animal facilities across different states to provide training on washroom operations. Please note that as part of this workshop we will have a large group (~25 people) entering and leaving the animal facility (primarily spending time in the washroom area) at different points throughout the day. No disruption to research operations is expected but please be aware and plan your activities accordingly.
Deputy Animal Facility Manager – acting placements
With Rodrick away assisting with managing another UQR facility for April-May, Kendall and Karen will be filling the position in an acting capacity for the following dates:
Kendall Hepple – 1st to 28th April
Karen Knox – 29th April to 26th May
This will mainly involve handling the relevant enquiries that come up and making any urgent decisions if I am offsite/unavailable. If you have any queries or concerns please let us know.
Emily Duggan – reproducibility and the microbiome – presentation recording available
We were very pleased to see a high level of interest/attendance in Emily’s excellent presentation last week on gnotobiotics, gnotobiotic experimental design and reproducibility issues with animal models in general that may be due to microbiome issues. This presentation was recorded and can be accessed at the following link (please let me know if you cannot access the recording):
As always, please do not hesitate to let us know if you have any queries or concerns at all.
