Jo Roberts
the Named Animal Care and Welfare Officer, CRUK Manchester Institute
Jo Roberts is the Named Animal Care and Welfare Officer at the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute, which houses mice. Jo is a senior animal technician with many years of experience and works at the heart of day-to-day animal care at the Institute.
Tell me about your role as a Named Animal Care and Welfare Officer
I’m one of the senior technicians in the facility, and I also hold the role of Named Animal Care and Welfare Officer. My job is broad. I help organise work in the facility, check experimental requests, check that activity follows the project licence, and ensure the right training is in place.
If new procedures or models are introduced, I help develop and sign them off. I oversee new procedures to make sure colleagues carry them out well and that the animal is not suffering. It is also a very hands-on role. I’m often in the unit, checking the welfare of the animals.
What does day-to-day work look like?
No two days are the same. Some days I might be doing surgical procedures myself; other days I’m in meetings, such as Animal Welfare and Ethical Review Body meetings. A big part of the role is simply being in the unit: looking at animals after procedures, checking specific health concerns, and offering advice to researchers and other technicians.
How are daily checks of the animals carried out?
Technicians take responsibility for specific racks of cages and complete daily checks. That involves removing each cage from the rack, checking the mice, making sure the cage label matches the number of animals present, and checking food, water, bedding and cage condition.
A lot of it is also about the animals themselves: how they are behaving, how active they are, and whether anything looks slightly different. Over time, you build a good sense of what normal looks like, so you notice small changes quickly.
I have always loved animals. I grew up with pets, helped out at stables and wanted to work with animals. I originally wanted to go into veterinary nursing, then came across an apprenticeship working with laboratory animals at AstraZeneca.
Jo Roberts
Named Animal Care and Welfare Officer at the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute
How do you manage animal welfare?
The cages are generally cleaned every three weeks. Mice are very sensitive to their environment, especially scent, so we have to balance keeping cages clean with avoiding unnecessary stress. When we clean cages, we transfer nesting material and items such as tunnels into the new cage so some familiar scent moves with them.
How did you get into this role?
I have always loved animals. I grew up with pets, helped out at stables and wanted to work with animals. I originally wanted to go into veterinary nursing, then came across an apprenticeship working with laboratory animals at AstraZeneca.
That was the starting point. I trained as an animal technician, completed my NVQ, received my Home Office licence and became fully licensed within a couple of years. I have always liked the technical aspect of the work, and I value the opportunity to have a positive impact on research animals.
My work feeds into cancer studies and clinical trials, so even if you do not see the end result directly, you know it is contributing to progress. At the same time, I’m having a real impact on these research animals.
Jo Roberts
Named Animal Care and Welfare Officer at the Cancer Research UK Manchester Institute
What do you find most meaningful about the role?
For me, it is about having an impact on animal welfare while supporting research that is part of something much larger. The work feeds into cancer studies and clinical trials, so even if you do not see the end result directly, you know it is contributing to progress. At the same time, I’m having a real impact on these research animals. There is a strong focus on improving welfare and refining how things are done, which is something I really value.
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