Michale E. Keeling Center for Comparative Medicine & Research

The vision of the Keeling Center is to use the center’s unique biomedical research resources to create a center of excellence like no other in the United States. The highly successful programs and expertise with in-life research involving a wide range of animal models create a unique set of research assets to expand and strengthen the center’s research and education mission. This places the Keeling Center in a leadership position in research that requires nonhuman primate models of human diseases, especially cancer and cancer-related diseases. The center’s GLP program will provide M. D. Anderson Cancer Center with an essential part of its translational research program. The major activity areas at the Keeling Center:

• Veterinary services supporting M. D. Anderson Cancer Center faculty research programs
• Federally supported national biomedical research resources of squirrel monkeys, owl monkeys and chimpanzees
• A breeding resource of rhesus monkeys for pharmaceutical research and testing
• Investigator initiated grants and contracts in cancer and cancer related diseases
• GLP testing in support of M. D. Anderson’s translational research programs  
• Post-professional and post-graduate education and training

Mission Statement

The mission of the Department of Veterinary Sciences of U.T. M. D. Anderson Cancer Center is to eliminate cancer and allied diseases as significant health problems throughout Texas and the nation, by developing and maintaining specialized programs in animal models, research and education.

Vision

The Department of Veterinary Sciences at U.T. M. D. Anderson Cancer Center will be acknowledged as the premier combined veterinary medical / research department within a cancer center. We will attract and nurture outstanding faculty, staff, students and volunteers, to carry out our mission.

• Animal Care - We will continually set, refine and advance the world's standards for the humane care and management of laboratory animal models in cancer and allied disease research. Our standard will be defined by quality of care and research service, compassion and respect for the needs of research animals.
  
  
• Research - We will foster advances in understanding cellular, molecular, genetic and behavioral processes related to cancer, allied diseases and health through science and the development and utilization of specialized animal models. We will apply these specialized models and the related knowledge to conduct and support translational, preventative and clinical research designed to understand, detect and treat cancer and allied diseases.
  
  
• Education - We will educate future leaders in veterinary, comparative, laboratory animal, immunological, virological and behavioral sciences to assist in the reduction of the burden of cancer and allied diseases. We will educate students, teachers, community professionals, the public and patients with accurate and helpful information about our research and about the vital role that animal research plays in understanding, preventing, detecting and treating cancer and allied diseases.
  
  
• Continuous Improvement of Resources - Through a philosophy of continuous improvement we will effectively manage the animal, human, financial and physical resources; the remote administrative processes and information system; and the key departmental processes needed to support our mission areas and vision.