Pamela Reinagel Awarded Sensory Sentinel Grant by Turner Scientific

November 12, 2024

By Turner Scientific

Turner Scientific, a world leader in animal laboratory environmental monitoring, has chosen Pamela Reinagel, Ph.D., as the winner of its 2024 Sensory Sentinel grant to promote animal welfare and improved research. Reinagel is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neurobiology at the University of California San Diego.

Pamela Reinagel

Erik Jepsen/University Communications

Throughout her career, Reinagel has engaged in pioneering research; from neural coding of visual information to visual behavior in rodents, and most recently on understanding how parallel visual streams and hierarchical pathways interact in the control of visually guided behavior. A common element of Reinagel’s diverse studies include application of statistical approaches to understand quantitative neural and behavioral data, with a particular interest in innovative ways to improve research rigor. Reinagel seeks to better understand and control the research animal environment (thereby improving animal welfare), and to improve research rigor, by better understanding the complicated sensory experiences of our research animals. Reinagel states: "We are studying how animal behavior varies over time, and the extent to which it can be explained by measurable signals in the environment. Accounting for environmental effects could improve rigor and reproducibility in behavioral neuroscience research. With the Sensory Sentinel, we will now be able to assess the potential effects of rarely-measured variables like ambient noise, light and vibration, on a second-by-second basis."

Turner Scientific is assisting scientists in their attempts to better understand the sensory dynamics of their research animals in both their housing and testing environments using the Sensory Sentinel device. “By monitoring these spaces, the Sensory Sentinel not only benefits the animals' health and well-being in their studies, but also helps to improve scientific rigor by understanding how such environmental variables can serve as uncontrolled variables/confounds in research,” said Jeremy Turner, Ph.D., founder of Turner Scientific. Turner Scientific is proud to partner with Reinagel to support her cutting-edge research.

Turner Scientific provides devices and consulting services to measure variables in laboratory environments that can impact research animals. The Sensory Sentinel, Turner Scientific's flagship product, was introduced in October 2020 and represented the culmination of years of technological development led by Turner. Capable of measuring noise and ultrasonic noise, vibration, temperature, humidity, light and human staff activity in animal rooms and inside home cages and testing environments, this device allows research scientists and animal facility managers to identify and reduce harmful and excessive levels of these environmental conditions.

Reinagel will receive a Sensory Sentinel device and adequate consultation to allow for proper installation, use and interpretation of data.