Dr. Jennifer Keyte, Director, Animal Care Services
Dr. Jennifer Keyte is Memorial’s new director of Animal Care. She began on Sept. 8, 2010, and is already brimming with ideas to facilitate research while upholding high standards of both animal health and research methods.
Dr. Keyte has been working in research animal medicine for over 10 years. She has worked with a large variety of mammalian, aquatic and avian species and has overseen many aspects of animal care programming. In addition to her doctor of veterinary medicine degree from the Atlantic Veterinary College, Dr. Keyte pursued additional study in aquatic and marine species through the Marine Biological Laboratories in Woods Hole, Mass. Dr. Keyte also holds a bachelor of science from the University of Toronto. Most recently, Dr. Keyte served as assistant director and veterinary officer of animal care at the University of Ottawa.
Dr. Keyte has big plans for Animal Care at Memorial. “Remaining at the status quo is not an option for us. I’m looking forward to working with students, faculty, staff and senior administration. We need to meet certain standards such as those set by the Canadian Council on Animal Care, but I want to exceed those wherever possible by incorporating the best practices in place at other animal research facilities.”
To that end, Dr. Keyte plans on meeting with researchers in groups and one-on-one to talk about their ideas and get feedback on how Animal Care can better support their research.
“I’ve always been very interested in the research and have collaborated with researchers in the past,” she explained. “I’m looking forward to engaging with researchers, students and technicians to find the optimal solutions to the problems that we face in planning and conducting research.”
Dr. Christopher Loomis, vice-president (Research) at Memorial, said Dr. Keyte’s energy and experience are tremendous assets to Memorial.
“I believe very strongly in the vision that Dr. Keyte has set for Animal Care at Memorial. She has brought forth exciting ideas and initiatives in our discussions about the challenges in the program and the facilities, and I’m looking forward to working with her to improve the services we offer our researchers who depend on Animal Care.”
