Visit Taconic at the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science National Meeting (AALAS) 2022!
Louisville, Kentucky | October 23-27, 2022
Join us in Louisville, KY, October 23-27 at the AALAS National Meeting, the largest gathering in the world of laboratory animal professionals. Meet with our scientific experts at booth #835 to learn more about how humanized immune system (HIS) mice can enhance oncology research.
Sunday, October 23 | 3:40 PM-4:00 PM June Peer will lead a technical trade presentation titled Humanized Immune System Mice: How to Maximize Experimental Success. Join her in Ballroom B.
Thursday, October 27, 2022 | 8:00 AM-10:15 AM we will host a scientific session: ASAP: Assessment and Surveillance of Adverse Phenotypes in Genetically Engineered Models.
Dr. Philip Dubé will moderate the discussion featuring several Taconic experts:
- Dr. Bart Smits | Genetic assessments for potential adverse phenotypes in GEMs
- Dr. Briony Smith | Using SPRINT Problem Solving to develop ASAP
- Dr. Mila Kundu | Establishing Humane Endpoints and Post-Approval Monitoring for GEMs
An interactive Q&A session will follow the presentations.
We invite you to check out our scientific poster—Monitoring of Commercial Transgenic Models Identifies the Presence and Frequency of de Novo Copy Number Variants by Bart Smits, Melissa MacGowan, Evan Kalkbrenner, and Adam Navis—at the event.
We look forward to connecting with you to discuss your upcoming projects and how to support your studies with humanized animal models.
We hope to see you at booth #835!
To schedule a 1:1 meeting with us at the event, please complete this form.
Taconic will have additional staff on site available to support discussions related to procurement and careers.
Mila Kundu, MS DVM DACLAM
Director of Animal Welfare & Compliance
Dr. Mila Kundu currently serves as Director of Animal Welfare & Compliance at Taconic Biosciences. She leads the US Animal Quality team in coordinating high quality clinical case management, troubleshooting for poor breeding lines, and frequent reviews of expected and unexpected adverse phenotypes with implementation of humane endpoints. As Global Attending Veterinarian, she has a strong commitment to upholding ethical standards by advocating for quality animal models and ensures US regulatory compliance (IACUC, AAALAC, OLAW, ORI, NYS DOH). She is a Diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine, completed her post-doctoral training at GlaxoSmithKline, and received her MS and DVM from Cornell University.
Bart Smits, PhD
Senior Manager, Genetic Sciences and Compliance
Dr. Bart MG Smits currently leads the Department of Genetic Sciences and Compliance at Taconic Biosciences. He has 20+ years of research experience with genetically engineered rodent models of human health and disease. Early in his career, Dr. Smits pioneered the generation of genetically engineered rat models and since then he has continuously performed research on the cutting edge of rodent genetic engineering. Before joining Taconic Biosciences in 2018, he was an Assistant Professor at the Medical University of South Carolina in Charleston, leading a research laboratory focusing on comparative genetics of breast cancer susceptibility loci. He completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He holds a PhD in Functional Genomics from the Hubrecht Institute for Developmental Biology and Stem cell research in Utrecht, The Netherlands.
Briony Smith, DVM, DACLAM, MS
Associate Director of Animal Quality
Dr. Briony Smith is the Associate Director of Animal Quality at Taconic Biosciences where she focuses on support for the clinical and surgical programs. She also provides input for the enrichment team promoting enhanced animal welfare, the training program and facility design and expansion. Dr. Smith is a Diplomate of the American College of Laboratory Animal Medicine, completed a 3-year Laboratory Animal Medicine Residency at Texas A&M University while also earning her Master of Science, and received her veterinary degree from THE Ohio State University.
Philip Dubé, PhD
Director of Global Applications Sciences
Dr. Phil Dubé is the director of Taconic Biosciences’ Global Applications Sciences group and also serves as IACUC Chair for Taconic’s Animal Care and Use Program in the United States. He has 20+ years’ experience in preclinical research involving rodents with particular emphasis on models for inflammatory disease and oncology. Philip’s research experience includes fellowships at Vanderbilt University and Children’s Hospital Los Angeles and he holds a PhD in physiology and an Honor’s B.Sc. in pharmacology from the University of Toronto.
June Peer
Veterinary Nurse
June currently serves as a Veterinary Nurse for Taconic Biosciences. Her commitment to both animal welfare and staff development has allowed her to share her passion through training, mentoring and education. Her current role also includes clinical evaluations and observations, serving on the Safety and Compassion Fatigue Committees, and assisting in facility compliance. She completed her AAS in Veterinary Technology from Purdue University. Prior to joining Taconic, she worked at the University of Notre Dame, providing care for a variety of species in a research setting.