The Cambridge In Vivo Assessment Platform aims to provide infrastructure, expertise and resources to accelerate pre-clinical translation of laboratory human research.
CIVAP is a core facility accessible to all research groups on the Cambridge biomedical campus, as well as to external academic and commercial collaborators. Its objective is to enable research groups to conduct high quality and pioneering in vivo studies rapidly, optimally and cost-effectively, with a particular emphasis on Replacement, Reduction and Refinements in experimental animal use.
CIVAP Services and Facilities
CIVAP will offer the following facilities and services to academic and commercial users:
- Regulatory approval to allow in vivo assessment of efficacy, safety and immunogenicity of a range of cellular, biological and pharmacological therapies
- Maintenance of common immunodeficient mouse strains in a central facility for shared used
- Expertise for generation and maintenance of immune-reconstituted ‘humanised’ mouse models
- Expertise for generation of disease models (e.g., diabetes, hepatocellular failure and autoimmunity)
- Access to trained technicians with expertise for performing common in vivo procedures (including transplantation into a range of sites)
- Expertise and resources for development of new animal and surgical models, procedures and techniques
- Unrivalled access to source human tissue through the Cambridge Biorepository for Regenerative Medicine (CBTM) for generation of: humanised mice; regenerative cellular therapies; cellular immunotherapies and tumour models.
CIVAP Collaborator Benefits
CIVAP offers the following key benefits to users:
- Ability to conduct rapid and efficient in vivo collaborative studies
- Rapid and efficient access to animal models and technical expertise
- Enhanced cost-effectiveness by reducing animal wastage and sharing technician and other staff costs
- Development and optimisation of shared protocols and procedures through increased experience and expertise
- Increased collaboration and productivity through shared use of resources and in vivo experimental models
- A significant Reduction in number of animals used and Refinement of animal experimental procedures