Modernization and Expansion of the University of Illinois at Chicago Animal-Based Research Program

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Abstract The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) has developed highly recognized programs in health disparity research and is a national leader among urban, public institutions that provide care for diverse patient populations through its hospital and community-based clinical systems. Our UIC research programs have developed around our diverse populations and communities with a focus on understanding disease mechanisms, developing novel therapeutics and refining clinical approaches that have relevance to our patient base. Our preclinical modeling capability and laboratory animal research facilities now require expansion to link our research opportunities with the capability to generate and characterize models of human disease that support our core mission areas. UIC proposes to modernize and expand its animal-based research programs by performing critical renovations to the Biologic Resources Laboratory (BRL), the institution’s centralized animal facility. The project will comprise renovations and upgrades to essential elements of the heating ventilation and air conditioning (HVAC) and electrical systems in the BRL to increase housing capacity and accommodate growth in the institution’s murine- based cancer and metabolic research programs. These include a patient-derived organoid and xenograft modeling core that uses samples from underrepresented cancer patient populations and a new Metabolic Disease Core to model health disparities in the treatment of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. Such modernization will also result in significant energy efficiencies. Overall, UIC BRL improvements will support animal-based research and permit the expansion of our translational and clinical research programs in health disparities and drug discovery. The long-term impact of the UIC BRL expansion will sustain our programs of translational excellence in health disparities research and drug discovery while permitting the growth of our NIH- funded population-based research programs (All of Us within the Illinois Precision Medicine Consortium, UIC Institute for Minority Health Research, and our CTSA-supported Center for Clinical and Translational Sciences) and our UI Cancer Center. This expansion will also impact the research programs of our regional partners who rely upon our facilities, cores and capability in animal research. Finally, our entrepreneurship-based strategic plan and for-profit partnerships to drive drug discovery initiatives have also compelled the expansion of our animal-based preclinical modeling capabilities.