Rodent Gnotobiotic Facility | Research Animal Care and Safety

Overview

The Rodent Gnotobiotic Facility (RGF) is located within the Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB) research animal facility. The RGF is managed and staffed by ACP personnel. The RGF has four 60” x 24” x 24” flexible film isolators (each with an 18-cage capacity) and four 30” x 24” x 24” flexible film isolators (each with a 5-cage capacity), a sealed positive pressure individually ventilated cage (SPP-IVC) rack (48-cage capacity), and a modified biosafety cabinet. The isolators are available for breeding or experimental use. The RGF has equipment and space for mouse line rederivation, housing, and ABSL-1 and ABSL-2 experimental procedures, including microbiota transplantation.

The ACP has established a protocol to work with the university’s Transgenic Mouse Facility (TMF) to rederive mouse lines and subsequently maintain germ-free mice. We routinely provide researchers with wild-type germ-free mice and have adequate racks and space in the gnotobiotic facility to perform experiments.

RGF Service Request Form

Facilities

Large isolaters: Four large isolators with an 18-cage capacity that are reserved for breeding.
Small isolators: Four small isolators with a five-cage capacity devoted to germ-free rederivations for smaller, longer-term research projects.
IVC rack and biosafety cabinet: The IVC rack features sealed, positive pressure individually ventilated cages (IVC) with a 48-cage capacity. The majority of the research projects are conducted in IVCs.

Pilot Project Grant Program

The Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research and Innovation has provided funding to support short-term research projects with the goal of generating preliminary data for extramural grant applications. Selected research projects will be awarded up to $5,000. Funding can be requested to utilize RGF services. If funded, an animal use protocol must be approved by the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee prior to initiating animal studies. Please consult with the Animal Care Program (acp-admin@illinois.edu) regarding preparation of the animal protocol.

Eligibility: All Illinois faculty and researchers are eligible to apply. Applications will be evaluated by the Advisory Committee and will be ranked based on scientific merit and potential for garnering extramural funding.
Deadline: Applications will be accepted on a rolling basis, however, for best consideration, please submit your application by the 15th of each month. This will enable the Division of Animal Resources to anticipate the demand for germ-free and gnotobiotic mice and space in the facility.
To Apply: Those interested in applying for the small grants should download and submit and Application Form and a Budget Form. Note: The cells will expand, but please limit that application to three pages (Arial 11 point font). Upload this form along with the estimated Budget (Excel spreadsheet) and your CV or Biosketch using the link below.

Submit forms here.

Services and Pricing

The per diem charges below are daily, for example the cost of housing mice in one sealed, positive pressure individually ventilated cage (SPP-IVC) is $8.66 per day. The charge for port access, $55 each access, is determined by our staff (i.e., how often access is necessary to change a cage, provide food, provide water, wean pups, etc.). This is not an everyday occurrence and depends on the nature of the project. The technical hourly labor charge is for all assistance provided outside of services listed and per diem fees.

Per Diem

Service	Charge
Isolator (size used will be determined by RGF Director)	$16
SPP IVC	$8.66
SPP ABSL-2 IVC	$12.99

Service Charge

Service	Charge
Project Initiation Fee	$275
Isolator setup	$770
Port access	$55
GF mouse (available for limited time only)	$82.50
Technical Hourly labor	$32.61
Rederivation	$4,400
Breeding colony management service	Consists of the following fees: project initiation, isolator setup, port access (amount based on project needs), and isolator rental

Advisory Committee

Committee Members

Ex-Officio

Contact Us

Fuming Pan
Director
217-244-0649
fpan@illinois.edu

Jaclyn Ahasic
Animal Care Specialist
217-300-1578
jahasic@illinois.edu

EJ Eastin
Lab Animal Care Coordinator
217-300-3419
eastin@illinois.edu

Juqin Wang
Research Specialist
217-244-0668
juwang@illinois.edu