WEBINAR SERIES—Science of Aging—From ‘Artificial’ to ‘Real’: What 24/7 Home Cage Monitoring Teaches Us In Pre-clinical Neurodegenerative Disease Models

September 15, 2021
11 a.m. EDT

Artificial environments in which rodents are tested for their behavioral repertoire are still the gold standard for neuroscience research. However, increased concern for the validity of animal testing and the welfare of the laboratory animals changes when testing of behaviors moves to a setting that is familiar to the animals. 

In this webinar, Stefano Gaburro, PhD, Scientific Director at laboratory animal equipment company Tecniplast, in Germany, will present an innovative noninvasive and scalable technique called Digital Ventilated Cage (DVC). DVS is used to perform longitudinal studies for neurodegenerative disease models through long-term monitoring of mice in a stress-free environment.

In the second part of the webinar, Brun Ulfhake, MD, PhDfrom Karolinska Institutet in Sweden, will show how this technique can be used to study circadian and circannual biorhythmicity of small rodents and approaches to characterize and extract metrics of the spontaneous home-cage way of life for mice. These metrics may translate better to behavioral observations made in humans. 

Presenters

Stefano Gaburro, PhD, has a strong academic background in preclinical research, mainly in neuroscience. In his former role at DSI and current position as scientific director at Tecniplast Group in Germany, Gaburro has helped researchers refine their scientific approaches to improve their methodologies and use of lab products. As an APS member, he has served on the Physiology in Industry and Central Nervous Section Steering committees. 
 
 

Brun Ulfhake, MD, PhD, wrote his PhD dissertation about electrical characteristics, function and structure in central nerve cells. After receiving his degrees, he worked as an anesthesiologist and diving physician, while carrying out out neurobiological research at the Karolinska Institutet in Sweden. After performing postdoctoral research with the National Institutes of Health, Ulfhake returned to Karolinska Institutet to study the connection between our genetic material and changes in the function of the nerve system during aging. He teaches at Karolinska Institutet and is the director of anatomy education and is also involved in laboratory animal ethical matters.