ZOO new england (ZNE) will develop capacity for zoos to use genetics research to study and improve the health of animal populations in ZOO care

The Institute of Museum and Library Services (IMLS) awarded a $1,082,289 National Leadership Grant to Zoo New England (ZNE) to develop capacity for zoos to use genetics research to study and improve the health of animal populations in zoo care. The three-year project (September 1, 2024 to August 31, 2027) will bring together veterinarians, pathologists, population managers, geneticists, and software experts to develop health data standards, protocols, and training for uniform biospecimen collections. The new tools and processes will be trialed and evaluated for heart disease in gorillas, with learnings applied to benefit the health of all zoo animal populations suffering from disease. This project builds upon ZNE's previous work with partners from Harvard University, MIT, Species360, and the Association of Zoos and Aquariums.

ZNE will build upon previous work with its partners from harvard university, MIT, SPECIES360, and the association of ZOO and aquariums' community, which determined that to study the genetic causes of disease, coordinated collection of biospecimens and standardized metadata are needed. The project will bring together veterinarians, pathologists, population managers, geneticists, and software experts to develop health data standards, protocols, and training for uniform biospecimen collections. The new tools and process will be trialed and evaluated for heart disease in gorillas, a species for which there has been substantial biospecimen collection. Learnings from this effort will be used when scaling the process to benefit the health of all ZOO animal populations sufferingfrom disease.