Construction of a Dual Function Primate Facility: ABSL3 and Transplant Medicine

简介（由申请人提供）：埃默里大学耶基斯国家灵长类动物研究中心是美国八个国家灵长类动物中心之一。该中心平均每天对3400只非人类灵长类动物（NHPs）进行普查，支持微生物学和免疫学、神经科学、心理生物学和感觉运动系统的多学科转化研究。该中心毗邻疾病控制和预防中心，已发展成为美国国立卫生研究院国家研究资源中心的重要组成部分，目前支持大约150个美国国立卫生研究院资助的项目。然而，研究项目的持续增长和资金的成功已经超出了我们现有基础设施的能力，无法支持基础研究和转化研究，而中心正是以这些研究而闻名。特别是，由于缺乏足够的NHP ABSL3空间来开展传染病研究，以及对免疫功能低下动物研究所需的空间密集型设施的需求增加，大大削弱了该中心响应国家研究优先事项的能力。因此，C06的提案要求为建造一座19,800平方英尺的新双重功能建筑提供资金，用于在Yerkes研究组合中增长最快的两个领域进行NHP研究，这两个领域与国家卫生优先事项相一致——传染病和移植医学。这个新设施将解决结核病和其他新出现的传染病威胁方面未得到满足的主要需求，并将进一步开发免疫疗法，以降低与骨髓、器官和组织移植相关的发病率和死亡率。该建筑的一层将专门用于传染病研究，在4个自给自足的环境封闭区域内拥有108只动物的ABSL3容量，将允许多达4个同时进行的研究，每个研究都有独特的高风险试剂，没有交叉污染的危险。三楼将专用于移植医学设施，有能力隔离80名国家卫生服务提供者，并容纳多达168名国家卫生服务提供者移植后，将包括一套严重免疫功能低下的动物，以及一间用于双移植供体/受体手术的专用手术室。所有的建筑维护功能将被安置在一个创新设计的二层间隙空间中，这样服务和设备维护功能就可以在不需要进入ABSL3空间或免疫功能低下动物专用空间的情况下进行。ABSL3楼层和移植楼层的空气处理系统将完全分开并相互隔离，以防止交叉污染的可能性。这个双重功能设施的建设将在未来两年多的时间里为大量劳动力创造就业机会。此外，新设施的运作将为至少12名熟练的全职员工提供新职位，包括6名研究人员、1名专职大楼管理人员、3名动物看护人员、1名兽医技术员和1名受过absl3培训的动物研究专家。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The Yerkes National Primate Research Center at Emory University is one of eight national primate centers in the United States. With an average daily census of 3400 nonhuman primates (NHPs), the Center supports multidisciplinary translational research in microbiology and immunology, neuroscience, psychobiology and sensory-motor systems. The Center, adjacent to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, has grown to become a vital component of the NIH's National Center for Research Resources and currently supports approximately 150 NIH funded projects. However, continued growth of research programs and funding successes have outstripped the capacity of our existing infrastructure to support the basic and translational research for which the Center is so well recognized. In particular, the lack of sufficient NHP ABSL3 space for work on infectious diseases and the increased need for space-intensive facilities required for work with immunocompromised animals has significantly curtailed the Center's ability to respond to national research priorities. Accordingly, this C06 proposal requests funds for construction of a new dual function 19,800 sq ft building devoted to NHP research in two of the most rapidly growing areas of the Yerkes research portfolio that align with national health priorities - infectious disease and transplant medicine. This new facility will address major unmet needs in tuberculosis and other emerging infectious disease threats, and will further the development of immune therapies to reduce morbidity and mortality associated with bone marrow, organ, and tissue transplants. The first floor of the building will be dedicated to infectious disease research, with an ABSL3 capacity for 108 animals in 4 self-sufficient environmentally contained areas that will permit up to 4 concurrent studies, each with unique high-risk agents without danger of cross contamination. The third floor will be dedicated to the Transplant Medicine Facility, have a capacity for quarantine of 80 NHPs and housing up to 168 NHPs post transplant, will include a suite for profoundly immunocompromised animals, and a dedicated operating room for dual transplant donor/recipient surgeries. All building maintenance functions will be housed in an innovatively designed second floor interstitial space so that service and equipment maintenance functions can be performed without the need to enter either ABSL3 space or specialized space for immunocompromised animals. The air handling systems for the ABSL3 floor and the transplant floor will be entirely separated and isolated from each other to preclude the possibility of cross contamination. Construction of this dual function facility will create jobs for an extensive labor force over the next 2 plus years. Moreover, the operation of this new facility will create new positions for at least 12 skilled FTEs, including 6 research personnel, 1 dedicated building manager, 3 animal caretakers, 1 veterinary technician and 1 ABSL3-trained animal research specialist.