ATCC's High Containment Facility Renovations in Support of NIAID and Pandemic Preparedness

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Project Summary: The proposed project aims to renovate ATCC's High Containment Facility (HCF) at the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC) in Manassas, Virginia. ATCC's 7,500 ft2 biocontainment facility was built in 2007 with funding from NIAID and has been dedicated to developing infectious disease strains and reagents needed to rapidly advance diagnostics, vaccines, and therapeutics against priority pathogens. Since 2003, ATCC has partnered with NIAID to centralize and provide critical scientific resources through the Biodefense and Emerging Infections Resources (BEI Resources) program. The NIAID established BEI Resources to provide the global research community with reagents, tools, and information for studying Category A, B, and C priority pathogens, emerging infectious disease agents, and other microbiological materials relevant to human health. Over the past 18 years, ATCC has provided over 1,360,000 reagents to over 14,000 investigators at 3,740 institutions in 119 countries spanning over 500 human pathogens in NIAID's priority portfolio. During this period, BEI Resources has provided critical materials for vital disease outbreaks, including H1N1, MERS, Ebola, and Zika. Over the past two years, ATCC has rapidly created more than 690 SARS-CoV-2 products; acquired, produced, and authenticated more than 165 stocks of SARS-CoV-2 for both general research and challenge studies; and shipped more than 86,000 research reagents to over 2,800 researchers in more than 70 countries for the development of countermeasures and basic research. The material provided by BEI Resources has been cited in more than 1,800 SARS-CoV-2 publications since February of 2020. In addition, ATCC has fostered collaboration and partnerships across NIAID programs and external working groups to share resources, information, and data to accelerate discoveries and harmonize scientific approaches for pandemic response and preparedness. ATCC's high containment facility houses laboratories essential for BSL-3 and Select Agent infectious disease research, product development, and large-scale reagent production for the research community. This proposal aims to renovate and upgrade the HVAC, decontamination, and security systems. The renovations also include upgrades to fixed equipment and interior finishing in the facility. The renovations will modernize the facility for use by 40 Ph.D. ATCC scientists, collaborators, and laboratory support staff. The products and services developed in the facility will support thousands of scientists globally each year to prepare and respond to pandemics. ATCC is seeking this opportunity for engagement with the NIAID to invest in this facility which has been foundational for the nation's pandemic response and preparedness.