IMPROVEMENT OF THE MU MEDICAL SCHOOL VIVARIUM

描述（由申请人提供）： 密苏里-哥伦比亚大学（MU）动物资源计划的长期目标是提供动物资源基础设施，以支持和扩大动物相关生物医学研究的能力和复杂性。MU是一所赠地大学，其独特之处在于在一个校园内设有兽医学院，医学院，生物科学系和农业学院。在过去的五年里，对密苏里大学的校外研究资助增加了72%，从1998财政年度的7320万美元增加到2002财政年度的1.261亿美元。其中许多项目涉及与动物有关的研究。MU的动物资源基础设施老化，但功能齐全。设施正在以最大能力运行，需要升级以满足当今生物医学研究所需的复杂程度，以确保遵守动物福利法和公共卫生服务政策关于人道主义护理和使用实验动物的法规，并保持AAALAC认证。密苏里大学制定了扩大和升级动物设施和项目的总体计划。这一改进要求是该计划的一部分。 该提案通过三个目标解决了位于医学科学大楼的医学院动物设施内的空间，监管和安全问题：1）扩大啮齿动物屏障容量46%（1518至2210净平方英尺），以满足转基因和基因敲除小鼠的住房需求; 2）通过翻新笼清洗设施的清洁侧以包括高压灭菌器准备区域，在高压灭菌器区域提供更安全的工作环境，危险的准备区，并为进入屏障的笼增加一个高压灭菌器; 3）通过更换两个HVAC装置，为12个动物房提供可靠的环境条件。

DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): The long-term goal of the animal resource program of the University of Missouri-Columbia (MU) is to provide an animal resource infrastructure to support and expand the capacity and sophistication of animal-related biomedical research. MU is a land grant university with the unique distinction of having a College of Veterinary Medicine, a School of Medicine, a Division of Biological Sciences, and a College of Agriculture on one campus. In the past five years, extramural research awards to MU have increased 72%, from $73.2 million in FY1998 to $126.1 million in FY2002. Many of these projects involve animal-related research. The animal resource infrastructure at MU is aged but functional. Facilities are operating at maximum capacity and are in need of upgrading to meet the degree of sophistication required in biomedical research today, to assure regulatory compliance with the Animal Welfare Act and the Public Health Service Policy on Humane Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, and to maintain AAALAC accreditation. MU has developed an overall plan to expand and upgrade animal facilities and programs. This request for improvement is part of that plan. This proposal addresses space, regulatory and safety issues within the School of Medicine's animal facility located in the Medical Sciences Building via three aims: 1) Expand the rodent barrier capacity 46% (from 1518 to 2210 net square feet) to meet the needs for housing transgenic and knockout mice; 2) Provide a safer work environment in the autoclave area by renovating the clean side of the cage wash facility to include the autoclave preparation area in order to eliminate a cramped, dangerous preparation area and adding an autoclave for cages entering the barrier; 3) Provide reliable environmental conditions in 12 animal rooms by replacing two HVAC units.