CONSTRUCTION OF RESEARCH ANIMAL FACILITY

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Funds are requested to fit-out a newly constructed animal facility at the MPRC, the research arm of the Department of Psychiatry of the University of Maryland School of Medicine. An internationally renowned center for schizophrenia research, the MPRC was built in 1968 on the grounds of the Spring Grove State Psychiatric Hospital in Catonsville, Maryland. Designed to understand the neurobiological basis of schizophrenia and to provide patients with the newest possible treatment options, the MPRC is currently home to more than 20 highly interactive, National Institutes of Health (NIH)-funded pre-clinical and clinical investigators, and 180 support personnel. Laboratory-based scientists use an unsatisfactory animal facility on the fourth floor of the MPRC. The proposed 7,291 sq. ft. state-of-the-art vivarium will occupy space in a new addition adjacent to the MPRC main building and will replace the antiquated and grossly inadequate animal quarters. The new facility, projected for completion in February 2003, will be indispensable for fulfilling current application obligations and will allow MPRC scientists to maintain their competitive edge in future applications for federal and nonfederal support. In particular, the vivarium will create an opportunity for MPRC investigators to accommodate and use genetically manipulated animals, and, thus, to partake in the revolution in psychiatric genetics. Availability of such animals in close proximity to the MPRC laboratories is critically important for the successful continuation of translational research within the Institution and beyond. The proposed project, which will be co-financed by contributions from the State of Maryland, therefore, considered instrumental for sustaining the stature of the MPRC in schizophrenia research.