IMMUNOINCOMPETENT RODENT AND BIOHAZARD FACILITY

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IMMUNOINCOMPETENT RODENT AND BIOHAZARD FACILITY John Norton, D.V.M., Ph.D., Director and Dareil Bigner, M.D., Ph.D., Scientific Director The Cancer Center Isoaltion Facility(CCIF) which houses the Immunoincompetent Rodent and Biocontainment Facility is the oldest shared resource in the Duke Comprehensive Cancer Center. This facility provides Cancer Center investigators with special isolated laboratories for work with hazardous biomolecules, certain recombinant DNA procedures, and for the maintenance of immunosuppressed and specific pathogen-free rodents or for other experiments that require biosafety level 2, 3, & 4 containment needed to investigate cancer biology and treatment. The building has a total of 30,000 square feet which includes eight modules housing 3 lead lined rooms, 3 horsfall rooms, 23 animal holding rooms, 9 laboratories, support areas for mechanical equipment, cage washing equipment and 26 operational autoclaves. Request for use of the space in the IRBF is evaluated by a user's committee which makes recommendations to the Director of the Cancer Center who has the authority to assign space in the building. Each investigator is assessed a fee for the use of the facility to recover the cost of staffing. The facility supports the research of 24 investigators and operates at full capacity. Dr.John N. Norton, Director of the Division of Laboratory Animal Resources and the operations of the IRBF, has the responsibility of managing and overseeing the animal care program. Dr. Darell Bigner is the scientific Coordinator of the IRBF. Mark Dewhirst, DVM, PhD will be the director of the new Animal Imaging Systems. The CCIF is staffed with 12 technicians and an operations manager who are responsible for providing care to the 4000 cages of rodents which must be maintained under barrier or containment conditions provided by the design of the building. The facility is supported by 4 fulltime mechanics paid from institutional resources to maintain and ensure the mechanical systems operate within biohazard containment guidelines. The CC1F provides space to support the Hybridoma/Immunochemistry and Radiolabeling Shared Resources.