ANIMAL FACILITY IMPROVEMENT FOR SMALL RESEARCH PROGRAM

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In order to accommodate the current and future marked growth of its faculty and its clinical, research and educational programs, Bethesda Eye Institute (BEI) is currently in the process of relocating to a larger, renovated facility. This future facility (to be occupied by May, 1993) will be significantly removed from the main medical center campus with which BEI is affiliated, and whose animal care facilities we currently (in part) utilize for housing many of our research animals. We propose that the future facility should include an animal resource facility that will house all animals utilized for current and future animal-based research projects at BEI, and that will also provide state-of-the-art capacities for specialized animal surgical procedures, pre- and post operative animal care, and requisite animal observation. The present proposal requests federal funds to provide the following: 1) Renovation of an existing space in the future building for the proposed animal resource facility, contributing to a fraction of the actual overall cost of that renovation project; 2) Animal Cage Procurement to accommodate the additional animals to be housed in the new facility; and 3) Surgical/OR Equipment Procurement to support specialized animal surgery needs, supplement existing equipment utilized in animal surgery procedures, and replace existing requisite equipment for that purpose that will not be transferred to the new facility from the existing facility. The requested funds will greatly facilitate the animal-based research programs currently supported by U.S.P.H.S. and private funds, and will correct noted current deficiencies in our AAALAC-accredited animal care program (particularly with regard to inter-institutional animal transport). The requested funds are essential to the development of the proposed animal care facility outlined in this grant application. The current budget for the future building renovation (based on nonfederal funds derived from a bond issue) would not accommodate the proposed facility plan; rather, it would limit construction to the type of facility currently in place at BEI, which (for reasons given in this proposal) do not meet either our current or projected future needs.