Steam Sterilizer for the McGavran-Greenberg Animal Facility at UNC Chapel Hill

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 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC-CH) has a well-funded biomedical research program, which includes a substantial number of investigators using rodent animal models. UNC-CH is also the site of several key rodent resources including one of four Mutant Mouse Regional Resource Centers (MMRRC), the National Gnotobiotic Rodent Resource Center (NGRRC), and the Collaborative Cross (CC) collection of recombinant inbred mice. These unique NIH sponsored resources serve the world-wide genetics and biomedical research community. These resources, combined with the expanding animal research programs at UNC-CH have contributed to the near doubling of the research animal census at UNC in the past seven years, with the increase consisting entirely of rodents. This proposal seeks to add a bulk steam sterilizer to the McGavran-Greenberg (McG) research animal facility as part of an institutional commitment to ensuring the safety and efficiency of the animal facilities across campus. The McG animal facility was originally constructed to house primarily large-animal species and now houses rodents for the UNC Gillings School of Global Public Health and faculty members from 13 different departments and centers including the following: Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center (LCCC), Center for Infectious Diseases, Center for Gastrointestinal Biology and Disease, Carolina Institute for Nanomedicine, Nutrition Obesity Research Center, and the Departments of Microbiology and Immunology, Environmental Sciences and Engineering, Nutrition, and Pathology. Funds from this renovation grant are crucial for: a) replacement of a 28-year- old autoclave that is necessary for maintenance of general housing and decontamination of caging to prevent rodent infectious disease outbreaks and b) for maintenance of an expanding infectious disease research program housed in the isolation cubicles area that is separate from the general animal housing area. We will attain our objective by pursuing the following three Specific Aims: 1. Replace the 28 year old cabinet style sterilizer with a large bulk steam sterilizer, providing pathogen free caging for an animal facility with an expanding research program within infectious disease, cancer, and other biomedical research initiatives; A 12222 Getinge bulk sterilizer will be purchased and installed to allow an increase in the number of barrier-housed animals to meet current research demands. 2. An underutilized biosafety level (BSL)-3 suite will be renovated to expand sterilizer capacity. Renovations in the physical configuration of the old biohazardous suite area will be made to support BSL-2 infectious disease studies and accommodate a bulk sterilizer for processing of cages from animals with experimental pathogens and carcinogens under conditions which meet compliance. 3. Replace one of the three air handler units (AHUs) that support the animal facility and the associated exhaust system. This 26 year old air handler is at the end of its functional lifespan and will be replaced with a new oversized unit to support additional future capacity and ease future renovations of the remaining AHUs. This project will support the successful research programs of 26 investigators with animals in McG that have extramural funding for a total of $18.9 million in annual direct cost funding, of which $183 million is NIH funding.