Veterinary Genetics Lab wins Lab Safety Award

The Veterinary Genetics Lab, led by Professor Rebecca Bellone, is this year’s Lab Safety Award winner in the Weill School of Veterinary Medicine. 

Each year, more than 980 UC Davis laboratories participate in the lab safety review program, run by EH&S, which feeds into the Lab Safety Awards.

Each college or school presents a $1,000 cash prize cash to their winning lab. The grand prize winner earns an additional $5,000 from Safety Services and the Office of Research, plus the UC Davis Lab Safety Award trophy. 

The lab provides DNA testing services, forensic testing and research for over 220,000 animals each year — across more than 20 species, including horses, dogs, cats, cattle and goats.

 To get all of that testing done, this self-supporting lab has about 90 employees, including more than 20 undergraduate employees and student interns who are learning about science and contributing to the lab’s services. 

"We are grateful and honored to receive this award," said Bellone. "It is a testament to our team's commitment to excellence and safety, led by our safety officer Natalia Ocampo, who is the driving force behind all things safety for our team."

Ocampo emphasized that teamwork is what sets their lab apart.

“At VGL, we look out for each other,” she said. “Staff regularly bring up safety concerns to me, and I make a point of listening to every staff member and student, then working with them, lab leadership, and EH&S to improve our infrastructure and make our workplace safer.”

One of Ocampo’s safety insights for fellow labs is: Make full use of EH&S as a resource. Her team recently had a biohazard spill response training from the Biosafety team that was not only informative, but actually fun too — which helped the lessons be more participatory and memorable.

Lab Safety Awards are presented by UC Davis leaders during an event on Oct. 22. Look for coverage in Dateline after the event.

Read more about other award winners across campus.