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Animal Research Innovation Challenge
CLOSED JUNE 2021
Animal Research
Innovation Challenge
How would you innovate to improve the care of laboratory animals, ease the management of animal facilities and enhance the quality of results from animal models?
Sponsored By
DETAILS
Timeline
Who can participate?
This Innovation Challenge is an internal HSC challenge open to all faculty, staff and students at the UNT Health Science Center. Teams comprised of up to four members are welcome, but not required.
Process
Tell us your idea
Register
Claim your HSC Next profile by clicking the SIGN UP button in the top right corner of this web page. HSC faculty, staff and students can sign-up with their HSC single sign-on (SSO) credentials. If you are a returning user to the HSC Next platform, simply log-in with SSO by clicking on the LOGIN button.
Review Resources
Explore the HSC Next platform to discover resources that can help you think about or develop your idea. You can find Tools to help you develop your idea, Stories that will inspire you to think like an entrepreneur, Connectors that offer innovation programming and even Events that will challenge you to grow as an innovator. Check back often as the resources are frequently updated.
Submit Your Idea
Begin telling us about your idea! Click the START button on this page and answer a few questions. You can save your work and return to it later. After logging back in, you will find your draft submission on your profile page. Once you’ve finished, click SUBMIT to enter your idea in the Challenge.
What's YOUR solution?
We are looking for innovators to develop tools, processes and equipment to benefit the welfare of research animals or improve the control of environmental conditions in animal facilities that support biomedical research.
Animal models in biomedical research require carefully controlled conditions. Diet, water, air quality, temperature and other factors can affect animal health and behavior. Innovations that improve environmental factors like these could enhance animal health, experimental outcomes and facility efficiencies. Improvements based on green technologies or sustainable operating procedures are especially welcome.
As one example, the development of devices to identify types and levels of various pathogens and other contaminants in air, water, and cage liners would help with monitoring specific laboratory conditions, which could eliminate or minimize exposure of personnel and animals. As another example, novel devices that improve the handling and restraining of animals could reduce animal stress, an important experimental variable to control in biomedical research.
For inspiration, check out this podcast about a local startup that is innovating animal science technology.
Some ideas to get you started: How would you...?
- Automate and measure food and water consumption at the individual level
- Improve habitats for social and non-social enrichment
- Facilitate drug delivery and measure drug uptake
- Sanitize, disinfect and/or measure levels of contaminants in habitats, facilities or equipment
- Develop non-invasive devices for measuring physiological parameters in research animals
- Enhance methods and devices for tagging, tracking and monitoring individual animals
- Improve systems or techniques for behavioral monitoring
- Enrich the lives of laboratory animal models and promote physical activity
- Improve emergency preparedness protocols
So, take the challenge: how would you innovate to improve the operation of animal research facilities or the care of animal models important to biomedical research?
References
R Wayne Barbee, Patricia V Turner, Incorporating Laboratory Animal Science into Responsible Biomedical Research, ILAR Journal, Volume 60, Issue 1, 2019, Pages 9–16
Yohannes G Asfaw, Randall Reynolds, Scott Alderman, John N Norton, Managing Research Animal Specimens and Laboratory Safety, ILAR Journal, Volume 59, Issue 2, 2018, Pages 144–149
How to submit
Start your submission by clicking on the START button on this page and answering a few questions.
Contact
If you have questions about this Challenge, completing your submission or using this site, please reach out to hello@hscnext.com.
Terms & Conditions
Values:
This Innovation Challenge will be conducted in accordance with HSC core values:
- Serve others first – encourage growth, well-being and success of each other and people we serve
- Integrity – uphold the highest ethical standards
- Respect – treat everyone with dignity and compassion
- Collaboration – work together to achieve shared goals
- Be Visionary – create innovative solutions in the pursuit of excellence
General:
The UNT Health Science Center at Fort Worth (“HSC”) is sponsoring the Animal Research Innovation Challenge (“Challenge”) to stimulate ideas for innovation in pre-clinical research and lab management. Ideas with the most promising potential for innovation will advance to a competition where innovators with the top ideas will be awarded funding, resources and mentors to help them take the Best Next Step with their ideas. For background information, submission deadlines and other Challenge details, see the specific challenge website here.
The Challenge will be managed by the HSC Next team using the online platform at https://www.hscnext.com (“Platform”). The Challenge, and your participation in it, is governed by these Innovation Challenge Terms & Conditions (“Terms”). Participants agree to be bound by these Terms upon submitting a Challenge entry through the Platform. HSC may revise these Terms at any time during the course of the Challenge to provide additional information or to improve the quality of the Challenge. Unanticipated issues that arise may require modifications to these Terms. HSC reserves the right to revise these Terms as it, in its sole discretion, deems necessary. All participants will be notified of revisions in a timely manner.
Please send any questions about this challenge and/or feedback regarding these Terms to hello@hscnext.com.
Common Qs about this Challenge...
Who is this for?
Can I submit more than one idea?
How do I get started?
Access the resources tab for Tools and Stories that have been curated to inform and inspire innovation. Click the "Start" button on this page any time to submit your idea.
Can I work with a team?
What is the time commitment?
Who will be judging the entries?
When will I hear back?