AALAS Connection

AALAS Compensation Survey invitations coming in January 2023!

The last several years have brought about a lot of changes because of the pandemic on staffing, remote work, and changes in priorities. Will your institution be asking these questions in 2023?

• Have salaries at your institution gone up, stayed the same, or decreased in the last 2 years? • What is the trend in the laboratory animal community?

One way to find out is to get data to compare your salaries and benefits to other institutions using the AALAS Laboratory Animal Facility Compensation Survey. Since 1997, AALAS has conducted 11 Surveys. This survey is an important service provided to allow your organization to easily compare your compensation levels and benefits with your peers.

Question: How can AALAS provide the best data for your organization? Answer: With your institution’s company’s participation!

As with any research, data is the key. We need your organization’s participation to ensure accurate information for all positions.

The study highlights compensation levels and organizational practices for 18 laboratory animal facility-related positions throughout the United States. These positions include director, assistant/associate director, manager, administrative/business manager, supervisor, clinical veterinarian, facility compliance manager, IACUC coordinator, training coordinator, research technician, animal health care technician, senior-level laboratory animal technician, mid-level laboratory animal technician, entry-level laboratory animal technician, shipping coordinator, purchasing coordinator, administrative support assistant, and cage washer.

What information is included in the final report?

The information is displayed in two sections. First, the institution, laboratory animal facility, benefits information, salary administration, and technician certification data are summarized. Then the personnel compensation information is reported for all respondents, as well as segregated by geographic region, type of institution, number of employees at the institution, and number of employees in the department.

The survey will once again be conducted by an independent company, Industry Insights, Inc., to ensure the confidentiality of your data.

Survey invitations will be sent to AALAS member institutions in January. If you would like more information about your institution participating, please email info@aalas.org.

Please encourage your facility management or human resources department to participate in the 2023 AALAS Compensation Survey!

Calling all GLAS applicants!

The GLAS (Grants for Laboratory Animal Science) mission is to enhance scientific knowledge in laboratory animal health and welfare through research and to promote collaborative efforts by the AALAS membership within the broader scientific community. The GLAS program aims to advance responsible laboratory animal care and use to benefit people and animals in such areas as environmental conditions, housing and enrichment, pain and distress, health and welfare, euthanasia, and animal care and use. Since the first grants were awarded in 2007, the GLAS program has awarded 92 grants totaling $1,743,310. As a result of the GLAS program, a total of 384 cited presentations, publications, and posters stemming from GLAS-sponsored projects have been produced and are listed on the AALAS website. Through these outcomes, AALAS has had a visible role in advancing research and knowledge in laboratory animal science.

The GLAS program provides two types of research grants: the standard grant for up to $50,000 for studies with a sound hypothesis and preliminary data; and the small grant for up to $7,500 for innovative or pilot studies. The GLAS program requires that the principal investigator be an AALAS member at any level, but it is not restricted geographically. To optimize your chances for a GLAS award, watch the recordings of the AALAS Scientific Advisory Committee’s perspectives and suggestions to prospective GLAS candidates on how to craft a successful GLAS application. The recordings are the panel discussion and Q&A session from the 2020 National Meeting. You may also want to view the online GLAS Tutorial for details on preparing your application.

To access the application form and these informational resources, visit www.aalas.org/glas.

If you have a proposal to improve laboratory animal health and welfare in research, we hope you will submit your idea in a GLAS application!

Application forms and instructions will be available online starting December 1! Applications are due on February 1.

Texas Branch AALAS 2022 Sugarland Meeting Recap

By: Julie Roller, BS, MS, RLATG, CMAR

The Texas Branch of AALAS was excited to hold its 59th Annual Conference on August 10-12, 2022. The event was held at the Marriot Hotel in Sugarland, TX, and the theme of the conference was “Texas Strong – Experts in Emergency Response.” This was an exciting event for the branch, as it was the first in-person event that has been held since the pandemic. TBAALAS hosted over 200 attendees and provided some great talks, posters and other fun activities. There were a wide variety of topics covered in the talks and posters, including topics in the areas of husbandry, training, veterinary care, staffing, employee and animal enrichment, and of course some talks surrounding our theme of emergency and disaster response. We were very happy to have Tecniplast sponsor, Dr. Doug Brining, as our Keynote Speaker, gave a great talk on disaster response at UTMB during the pandemic. Marc Hulin, National AALAS President was our guest for the conference, and we appreciated him making the trip to Texas, as well as participating in the program and being our MC for our awards banquet. A huge thank you, Marc!

Activities in addition to the poster/presentation program included a wet lab on rodent palpation, a leadership workshop on emotional intelligence, and some off-site activities including a tour at Brazos Bend State Park and a behind-the-scenes tour of the primate area at the Houston Zoo that our attendees could participate in. A new and fun addition this year was a human Hungry Hungry Hippos tournament – which provided some extra fun and excitement for both the participants and the spectators!

The Helen Jordan Memorial Vendor Hall welcomed over 50 vendors, and attendees had lots of time in the hall to spend getting to know the vendors and their products. The vendor hall was a hopping place, also hosting a happy hour with the vendors and a social event fiesta to welcome the attendees. A Past-Presidents Reception welcomed back many of the previous TBAALAS Presidents and they were recognized during the social event. A silent auction was held in the vendor hall that raised money to support our Technician Scholarship Award for next year to be able to send a deserving individual to National AALAS for the first time. This year’s Technician Scholarship winner is Delali Miwodor (UT Southwestern Medical Center), and she will be attending the national meeting in Louisville this year!

At the awards banquet and presentation, we recognized many winners of technician recognition awards and presentation awards. Award winners Included:

Presentation award winners (sponsored by Animal Care Systems, Alternative Design, Envigo, LGL Animal Care Products, and Quip Laboratories):

• Morgan Fields (UT Southwestern Medical Center) • Julie Roller (UT Southwestern Medical Center) • Katherine Head (UT Southwestern Medical Center) • Manuel Aguilar (Texas Biomedical Research Institute) • Lindsey Edwards (UT Health Science Center at Houston)

Technician recognition award winners

• Level I Rookie Award - Georgia “Ann Dee” McVicker (Texas Tech University) • Level II Non-Supervisor Award - Cindy Wang (MD Anderson Cancer Center) • Level III Supervisor Award - Christa Harper (UT Southwestern Medical Center) • Allentown Manager of the Year Award - Morgan Fields (UT Southwestern Medical Center) • Charles River Outstanding Clinical Veterinarian Award - Dr. Christopher Jannsen (UT Health Science Center at

Houston) • A-Tune (a Transnetyx Company) Advancing Technology to Support Research Award - Chetna Patel (MD Anderson

Cancer Center)

Vendor/Attendee Activity Award Winner

• Hungry Hungry Hippos Tournament Winners – Fred Rock (Avidity Science), Mitch Moore (Allentown), and Bill Mc-

Donald (Ancare).

The group also congratulated some new lifetime members for TBAALAS. New Lifetime Members:

• Dr. Ken Gray • Dale Weiss • Lane Watkins • Valeri Lansford • Pat Sikes

These folks were also recognized for their retirement since the start of the pandemic, and this list also included John Donaho, who was specially recognized by Cordelia Rasa for his help as TBAALAS Webmaster for many years. The President’s Recognition Award was given to Sheri Brodie by Julie Roller for her great support during Julie’s presidency. The gavel was passed on from the outgoing President, Julie Roller to the incoming President, Mona Jaffari, and we celebrated the work done by both the Board and the Program Committee over the past 2 years.

This was a great program, and it was wonderful to get to spend time with old friends, as well as get to meet some new faces! Thank you to the Program Committee for all their hard work in planning and executing this great event and thank all the attendees and vendors for making our meeting a great success! We have already started planning our next conference, to be held in February 2024. For more information about TBAALAS, please visit our website at www.TBAALAS.net.