Sterilization Improvement Grant

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 DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey (RU)-Office of Research Advancement (ORAd) requests funds to purchase and outfit a new bulk sterilizer so current as well as future expanding numbers of rodent cages in the Research Tower (RT) Animal Care Facility (ACF) on the Busch campus in Piscataway can be efficiently and effectively sterilized. The RT currently has two sterilizers (Amsco and Steris). Although both are low profile, they are old and have significant serviceability and throughput limitations. In fact, he Amsco sterilizer is in nearly non-operable condition and must be immediately replaced. In addition, neither of the current sterilizers is able to sterilize racks. Without the requested equipment, RU Principal Investigators (PIs) will continue to be challenged to maintain existing barrier rodent colonies or expand these colonies to meet future needs. NIH-funded animal research in RT-ACF will be significantly affected. The proposed new sterilizer has more than three times the capacity of the existing Amsco sterilizer proposed for replacement and will enable significantly faster sterilization of rodent racks, cages and associated equipment than the current model. The location of this new sterilizer will also allow it to serve a dual purpose, allowing decontamination of dirty racks when loaded from the Dirty Cage Wash side while providing sterilization of clean racks when used from the Clean Cage Wash side. Replacing the existing Amsco sterilizer will also enable us to reverse the dirty and clean cage wash to improve traffic flow as well as enhance biosecurity. Additional environmental savings in resources would likewise occur with the purchase of the requested rack/cage sterilizer. Although the ACF in the nearby School of Public Health Building (SPH) has a bulk sterilizer, logistical distance, bio-security and more importantly, a heavy sterilization load at the SPH-ACF precludes the RT-ACF from sending cages to the SPH-ACF for routine sterilization. Replacing outdated, poorly functional equipment at the RT-ACF with a new bulk sterilizer will greatly enhance ORAd's ability to support current NIH-funded Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) investigators as well as eventually allow for a consolidation of PIs from the Schools of Pharmacy (SOP) and Biomedical Engineering (BME) to the RT-ACF. Reducing the number of satellite ACFs will greatly reduce ORAd's operating costs and reduce the per diem burden on PIs and NIH. This equipment plus 2587 square feet (SF) space and supporting infrastructure upgrade fits existing facility dimensions, and utilizes most of the existing infrastructure. To ensure equipment operation Rutgers University will pay any additional expenditure in addition to that requested in this grant. Without a new bulk sterilizer in the short term, the RT-ACF may not meet the rodent needs of RU PIs so they can properly conduct NIH funded research.