Opening the doors to Europe’s first specific pathogen free sheep flock at the AO Research Institute Davos
The long-awaited sheep facility is open and ready to move 24 sheep free of specific pathogens, into their new safe, spacious, and highly protected living quarters in Davos which will be enlarged to a flock of over 200.
Last Friday, August 27, the preclinical research facility of the AO Research Institute Davos (ARI) proudly opened the doors to its highly anticipated specific pathogen free (SPF) sheep facility which stands directly adjacent to the AO center in Davos.
The pre-inauguration gave invitees a one-time chance to tour the facility, before all areas get disinfected, and it then officially closes to all but the sheep and their caregivers.
Christoph Lindenmeyer, CEO, Geoff Richards, Director of ARI and Executive Director AO Foundation R&D, Daniel Arens, Senior Project Leader, as well as Urban Lanker, Manager Preclinical Facility at ARI were happy to welcome many representatives of the cantonal and local community. These included Jon Domenic Parolini, Regierungsrat at Kanton Graubünden and the Mayor of Davos, Philipp Wilhelm (Landammann). Unfortunately, Stephan Zeiter, Program Manager Preclinical Services and Tim Buchholz, Project Leader, were not able to attend, after having dedicated much time to this project.
The pre-inauguration gave invitees a one-time chance to tour the facility, before all areas get disinfected, and it then officially closes to all but the sheep and their caregivers.
Christoph Lindenmeyer, CEO, Geoff Richards, Director of ARI and Executive Director AO Foundation R&D, Daniel Arens, Senior Project Leader, as well as Urban Lanker, Manager Preclinical Facility at ARI were happy to welcome many representatives of the cantonal and local community. These included Jon Domenic Parolini, Regierungsrat at Kanton Graubünden and the Mayor of Davos, Philipp Wilhelm (Landammann). Unfortunately, Stephan Zeiter, Program Manager Preclinical Services and Tim Buchholz, Project Leader, were not able to attend, after having dedicated much time to this project.
All were impressed with the state-of-the-art, 6,575-square-meter zone expansion that is due to house the world’s first SPF flock of sheep outside of North America this September. Beyond the impressive facilities, this expansion fulfils the community’s clear commitment to be global research leaders and continues to put Davos on the map within Science City Davos. This facility and indeed the flock themselves will fulfill an unmet need in Europe and beyond while maintaining the highest principles of animal welfare. It will achieve this, according to Richards, through the use of SPF sheep, and careful breeding, that in turn will reduce and refine animal experiments. "The AO, whenever possible, uses other means to develop new treatments that do not involve animals (in silico, in vitro and ex vivo) and strongly follows 3R principles to reduce, refine and replace animal experiments where possible. Despite this, there is a need to use animals in preclinical research before treatments can be applied to help both human and animal patients. We do this with care, caution, and respect, minimizing the burden on the animals,” Richards said.
Last Friday, August 27, the preclinical research facility of the AO Research Institute Davos (ARI) proudly opened the doors to its highly anticipated specific pathogen free (SPF) sheep facility which stands directly adjacent to the AO center in Davos.
The pre-inauguration gave invitees a one-time chance to tour the facility, before all areas get disinfected, and it then officially closes to all but the sheep and their caregivers.
Christoph Lindenmeyer, CEO, Geoff Richards, Director of ARI and Executive Director AO Foundation R&D, Daniel Arens, Senior Project Leader, as well as Urban Lanker, Manager Preclinical Facility at ARI were happy to welcome many representatives of the cantonal and local community. These included Jon Domenic Parolini, Regierungsrat at Kanton Graubünden and the Mayor of Davos, Philipp Wilhelm (Landammann). Unfortunately, Stephan Zeiter, Program Manager Preclinical Services and Tim Buchholz, Project Leader, were not able to attend, after having dedicated much time to this project.
The pre-inauguration gave invitees a one-time chance to tour the facility, before all areas get disinfected, and it then officially closes to all but the sheep and their caregivers.
Christoph Lindenmeyer, CEO, Geoff Richards, Director of ARI and Executive Director AO Foundation R&D, Daniel Arens, Senior Project Leader, as well as Urban Lanker, Manager Preclinical Facility at ARI were happy to welcome many representatives of the cantonal and local community. These included Jon Domenic Parolini, Regierungsrat at Kanton Graubünden and the Mayor of Davos, Philipp Wilhelm (Landammann). Unfortunately, Stephan Zeiter, Program Manager Preclinical Services and Tim Buchholz, Project Leader, were not able to attend, after having dedicated much time to this project.