FACILITIES

                Administrative and Teaching

The Department is supported with 15 well-equipped offices, individual graduate student carrels, and a seminar room/library.

The Department shares lecture theatres and microcomputer laboratories with all College faculty, and other University users. One teaching laboratory is also shared, a fifty-seat "wet" lab, which has proved very satisfactory for microanatomy instruction. The main Physiology-Pharmacology-Toxicology (PPT) laboratory represents a significant Departmental resource for laboratory instruction. This lab has 16 well-equipped work-stations. The laboratory was designed to "double" in research, to minimize the idle time which often occurs in such highly specialized teaching spaces, and is also used for small group instruction as an interim measure. The Macroscopic Anatomy Lab is a 16-station unit, designed for dissection, and specimen preparation with adjacent small group teaching space.
 

RESEARCH

a) The Department has been allocated nine research laboratories, totalling 5,800 square feet, for faculty research. These are organized as three large (880 ft2) multi-user laboratories, three intermediate (440 ft2) laboratories shared by 2 or 3 faculty, and three small (220 ft2) laboratories.

b) General physical resources available to the Department (on a College-wide shared basis) include laboratory support and glassware maintenance areas, as well as Electron Microscopy, Radioisotope and Image Analysis Suites. Fish Health laboratory and holding space are also available for faculty who are involved with appropriate species, and general research animal holding and maintenance is available in the AVC laboratory animal facility. A ten-unit research microcomputer facility is maintained by the Computer Centre for general faculty research use.

             TEACHING

a) The AVC lecture theatres are well equipped with modern audio-visual aids including multi-media projection capabilities. The PPT lab has 16 fully-equipped lab stations that are also wired to a central console. Associated with the PPT lab is a preparation lab partially dedicated to PPT use, but also allocated to preparation space for anatomy museum specimens using plastination techniques. .

b) Computer software for generating teaching materials is available through the University Novell Network to which all faculty have access.

a) Equipment used in support of research is either resident within the Department or available in common facilities located elsewhere in the College. Major equipment located outside the Department that receives extensive use by Anatomy & Physiology personnel include the Electron Microscopy suite, Radioisotope suites and Image Analysis suite. In addition to specialized equipment purchased in support of individual research interests, all Department faculty also have access to multi-user equipment concentrated in three areas: microscopic anatomy, physiology and toxicology.

b) For microanatomy research the department has allocated a 220 ft2 lab to sectioning, staining, and slide preparation. This space has a microtome, floatation baths, slide warmer, and staining equipment. The faculty also have immediate access within or near their laboratory to a research quality photomicroscope and a photodissection scope.

c) The physiology area supports activities in radioimmunoassay, cell separation and culture, and systems studies requiring bioinstrumentation. The RIA lab is equipped with one gamma counter, a scintillation counter, a special dishwasher for glassware preparation, vacuum extraction apparatus, an autodiluter, and appropriate waterbaths and centrifuges. For cell separation and culture, an elutriation centrifuge and CO2 incubator as well as a laminar air flow hood are available. The bioinstrumentation equipment has been integrated into the PPT teaching lab, where this sort of research takes place. This equipment includes polygraphs, transducers, stimulators, isolated tissue preparation systems, anesthesia machines, surgical tables and lights, and appropriate support equipment.

d) Toxicology research equipment is extensive, as research service is also supported by the diagnostic instrumentation selected for this laboratory. This includes systems for atomic absorption spectroscopy, fluorometry, binary and quaternary HPLC (UV, fluorescent, electrochemical and photo-diode array detection), UV-visible diode array spectrophotometer and three capillary column gas chromatographs one of which is equipped with a mass-selective detector. Most of this equipment is supported by advanced data analysis systems.