PATHOLOGY PEER REVIEW AND PATHOLOGY SUPPORT FOR THE DNTP AND DIR AT NIEHS" CHARLES RIVER LABORATORIES (CRL)

Charles River Laboratories Intntl, Inc., Wilmington MA

Investigators

Abstract

The subject contract was established to provide a broad range of routine and specialized pathology services in support of studies conducted under contract by the National Toxicology Program (NTP) and for supplemental studies on pathology specimens generated through these studies. The contract also provides critical pathology (including molecular pathology) support for studies conducted by in-house investigators at NIEHS and other NIEHS contract studies. Specifically, the following services are supported by this contract: 1) necropsy and in-house necropsy assistance; 2) histology (tissue trimming and processing, slide preparation, and staining); 3) histopathological evaluation/interpretation; 4) application of specialized qualitative and quantitative morphological procedures (immunohistochemistry, morphometrics, cell proliferation, apoptosis, electron microscopy); 5) adaptation, development, refinement, application of new techniques in cellular and molecular biology including (but not limited to) genotyping, DNA sequencing, in situ hybridization, DNA and RNA isolation and amplification, and real time, quantitative, and in situ PCR, as well as training in the application of these techniques; 6) Pathology Peer Review (including Pathology Data Review [PDR], Audit of Pathology Specimens [APS], Quality Assessment of pathology evaluations and Pathology Working Group Coordination [QA/PWG]) and technical support for these activities; 7) pathology data entry; 8) presentation or publication of pathology data or techniques, or support for these activities; 9) on-site pathology support, and 10) administrative support for the laboratory animal medicine group. The following work was completed for the National Toxicology Program and the NIEHS on this contract in the past year: 1 QA/PWG review; 27 projects for preparation of histology slides, primary histopathological evaluations for 5 immunotoxicity studies, 9 special histopathological evaluation for NTP and NIEHS studies, 1 immunohistochemisty staining project, 3 projects for preparation of materials for publication in scientific journals, and on-site support in the NTP Laboratory Animal Group (1 Laboratory Animal Veterinarian and 1 administrative support staff), and in the NIEHS Core laboratories (2 technical support staff). In addition, there are several other projects for the NTP and NIEHS that are in progress.