VOLUME 12, NUMBER 20 • APRIL 20, 2001

Fred Quimby is New Head of LARC

Fred Quimby has joined The Rockefeller University as director of the Lab Animal Research Center (LARC). Quimby has spent his entire scientific career in the field of laboratory animal research and management. He comes to Rockefeller from a long tenure at Cornell University, where he was professor of pathology and director of the Center for Research Animal Resources, both in Ithaca, N.Y.

Fred Quimby, who has both a Ph.D. and a degree in veterinary medicine, will direct The Rockefeller University’s animal facility.

Quimby, who has been at LARC for approximately eight weeks, has given the facility a thorough inspection and assessment. His conclusion: "The top priority is and always will be the optimal care and health of the animals–not just because it’s the most ethical way to organize the priorities in animal research management, but because extremely healthy, stress-free animals provide fewer variables to the researcher, and therefore the researcher can use fewer animals to get the same results." To this end, Quimby has suggested a few infrastructure improvements to LARC’s already top-notch facility.

The most important change comes in the area of the university’s mouse research. Due to the widespread use of transgenic mice in scientific research, the Rockefeller’s mouse census has changed significantly over the past few years. Quimby will enhance LARC’s facility to house up to 2.5 times more mice, even as other species populations decline in use, with state-of-the-art air filtration systems in place to absolutely minimize the infectious disease risk among the animal population at Rockefeller.

"We already have excellent policies and procedures in place," says Quimby, "The new, HEPA-ventilated housing systems will simply add another layer of protection to the mouse population."

Already scheduled for some of the tri-institutional training programs, Quimby will continue his long commitment to public education as well as the review of animal research protocols. And along with Joanne De Stefano, the LARC education coordinator, Quimby will participate in Rockefeller’s training programs for new researchers at LARC’s weekly seminars.

The only significant change Quimby will make in his new role at LARC is to discontinue his own laboratory research. Having contributed significantly in the areas of veterinary immunology and infectious disease research for the past 25 years, Quimby will lend his full support as a researcher to the activities of Rockefeller scientists.

"I find it absolutely thrilling to be working among such distinguished colleagues, and want to direct all of my efforts toward Rockefeller science," Quimby says.