Increased Barrier Housing at the Clinical Research Building

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The overall goals of this program are to increase the quality of animal care and to enhance the quantity of mouse housing space in the Clinical Research Building (CRB) vivarium at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The CRB is the second largest component of the School's vivaria (13,727 SF), and supports the research efforts of 60 faculty with more than $75 million in direct costs for biomedical research. The project goal is accomplished through three closely linked specific aims: (1) Enhance CRB Housing Capacity through Conversion/Renovation of Neighboring Laboratories; (2) Improve Sanitization by Upgrading the CRB Ventilation System and Expanding the Barrier; and (3) Provide Working Conditions that Meet Optimal Occupational Safety Standards for Facility Staff. Penn Medicine is one of the nation's premier biomedical research institutions. Funding from the NIH alone totaled $393 million in FY04. This follows a decade of extraordinary growth (231%). As much of contemporary biomedical research is dependent upon rodent systems/models, it is not surprising that the murine animal colony expanded at >20%annually over this same period. Although Penn Medicine has dramatically expanded research facilities, with over 425,000 net square feet of new research space and animal facilities created since 1990, these increases have not kept pace with the funded research demands of the faculty. The current murine housing capacity is >85% in the CRB, which is operationally at saturation. As a result, investigators have been required to restrict the size of their murine colonies, which impedes research progress. In addition, the colony of an individual lab is often housed in several locations, thereby increasing the probability of cross facility contamination. Our proposal represents the short-term component of a comprehensive seven-year plan to expand and upgrade the animal vivaria at Penn Medicine. Renovation of the CRB vivarium will have the following positive effects on the School's research programs: * Provide state-of-the-art animal care facilities for the School's present and future programmatic needs, including Genetics, Obesity and Diabetes, Neurobiological Behavior, Neurodegenerative Diseases, and Transplantation. * Provide enhanced laboratory animal facilities to retain and attract the best scientists to the School * Contribute to the School's ability to retain AAALAC, International accreditation