DE PEDIATRIC COBRE: ALTERATIONS AND RENOVATIONS CORE

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This subproject is one of many research subprojects utilizing the resources provided by a Center grant funded by NIH/NCRR. The subproject and investigator (PI) may have received primary funding from another NIH source, and thus could be represented in other CRISP entries. The institution listed is for the Center, which is not necessarily the institution for the investigator. The Life Science Center (LSC) at the Alfred I duPont Hospital for Children in Wilmington, Delaware is a Nemours-funded core facility designed for conducting biomedical research using animal models of human disease. The physical plant encompasses approximately 7,000 sq ft of research laboratory, maintenance and animal holding facilties. There are 10 animal holding rooms, 4 wet laboratories or small animal procedure rooms, 1 major surgery room, 1 imaging and procedure suite, and an irradiation room, in addition to storage rooms and an automated cleaning room. Staffing of the center includes a manager, two animal caretakers, a surgical services technician and an attending veterinarian. The existing physical plant is located in a separate building. The physical plant is aging and in addition to the need for expanded space, upgrades to critical infrastructure components such as the electrical system and the HVAC system are critically needed. In addition, there is an LSC Annex consisting of two small rooms (G46/48) located on the ground floor of the Research building and currently unable to be utilized for survival surgery. The LSC had its last significant upgrade in the late 1980s. Nemours Biomedical Research has grown significantly since then, with escalation in the number and scope of researchers utilizing the LSC. Proposed facility modifications in support of this RFA are enumerated below. PROPOSED RENOVATIONS AND ALTERATIONS TO FACILITIES A. Large animal holding room and storage area. The projects of Drs. Theroux and Tsuda require the use of large animals (sheep and/or pigs). To accommodate these needs, the current LSC general storage room (109) will be modified to meet animal housing and storage requirements. Renovations to Room 109 will include the addition of a dividing wall to produce two separate rooms. One room will be labeled as 109A and will remain in use for LSC storage; Room 109B will become a holding/housing room for large animals. B. Recovery surgery suite for large animals. Projects proposed by Drs. Theroux and Tsuda necessitate the establishment of an animal surgery suite meeting the requirements of a survival surgery facility for covered species. The LSC Annex, Room G46/48, is currently used to perform non-survival surgery on large animals. The square footage in G46/48 at present is approximately 500 sq ft. The objective of the Renovation Core is to provide a significant upgrade to our existing vivarium facilities (Nemours Life Science Center). As noted above, the Life Science Center is a Nemours-funded core facility designed for conducting biomedical research using animal models of human disease. This staff facility currently meets the needs of many studies involving rodents and lagomorphs. We anticipate that the Center for Pediatric Research will significantly increased demands for vivarium space and will initiate the use of new animal models within Nemours Biomedical Research Institute. While the animal facility is sufficient for current small animal work, it does not meet the needs of several researchers who require or will require specialized physiological studies in small animals, nor does it provide sufficient large animal vivarium or procedure areas that will be essential for developing translational research programs with child-relevant animal models. The planned renovations will create a large animal holding room, a procedure room for survival surgery on large animals and a procedure room for survival surgery on small animals.