Barak Carmi, DVM

Head of the Research Animal Facility
Faculty of Natural Sciences

Field of Research:
Animal Welfare in Research, Clinical Trials and Experiments

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Under One Roof: A Central Animal Facility for Breakthrough Science

“Our vision is to create a state-of-the-art hub that brings our research animal facility under one roof with experimentation labs, outfitted with cutting-edge equipment to streamline research and uphold the highest standards of animal welfare.”

– Barak Carmi, DVM

The Project 

Since the mid-1990s, the University of Haifa has grown from one biomedical research lab to 13 facilities researching Alzheimer’s, cancer, PTSD, inflammation, autism, diabetes, depression, and more. Breakthroughs are already emerging, yet rapid growth has left no central space to house and care for research animals under optimal, welfare-first conditions. Animals and equipment are squeezed into rooms scattered across campus.

Our vision is to build a state-of-the-art, centrally located animal facility adjacent to the laboratories that will:

  • House mice and rats in the quantities research demands 
  • Meet the highest animal welfare standards 
  • Boost efficiency and research quality 
  • Serve as a platform for future innovation and collaborations with the new Herta and Paul Amir School of Medicine opening this year at the University of Haifa.

Fundraising Goals

Philanthropic support will elevate life-saving research across the University of Haifa.

  • Advancing animal-welfare in research: Modern housing to replace today’s scattered rooms; state-of-the art equipment; supervised and regulated care for research animals while improving research quality.
  • Enabling world-class research conditions: Give leading scientists the optimal animal resources they need to speed breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s, cancer, PTSD, and more.

Meet Barak Carmi

I graduated from the University of Veterinary Medicine and Pharmacy in Košice, Slovakia, in 2001 and worked in small-animal practice. I have remained deeply engaged in the sensitive, complex, and meaningful world of biomedical research involving animals. I gained over 12 years of experience in clinical trials of active implantable medical devices in animals and human, in Europe and Israel. In 2018 I joined the University of Haifa as Head of the Research Animal Facility. My role is to ensure that animal experiments are only conducted when no alternatives exist, to minimize the number of animals used, and to refine procedures to reduce pain or distress in animals. Mice and rats remain pivotal to advancing science, and it is our ethical duty to treat them with the utmost care and respect.

 

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