Aging, inadequate buildings can be redeveloped to create modern animal facilities as long as the design and construction team is armed with the right tools: an accurate assessment of the existing structure and systems, a clear understanding of the challenges they face and the programmatic and budgetary needs of the owners, and a process that allows for constant re-evaluation throughout design and construction.
The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) and the University of California, Davis have initiated a new phase in their ongoing research collaboration by sharing resources and core services. UC Davis will benefit from on-site educational programs at the JAX mouse facility in Sacramento, Calif. JAX will provide mouse colony management services for UC Davis investigators, expediting research discoveries by preventing transportation delays.
TNO Triskelion opened a BSL-3 vaccine testing laboratory in March of 2014 in Zeist. The facility will enable the contract research organization to develop drugs to combat viruses including avian influenza, SARS, and tuberculosis. The biocontainment lab conforms to GLP (Good Laboratory Practice) standards and is able to test treatments against all subtypes of influenza, whether avian or human.
The Public Health Agency of Canada opened the 60,000-sf JC Wilt Infectious Diseases Centre in February of 2014 in Winnipeg. Designed by Smith Carter, the facility provides advanced laboratories for infectious diseases research, diagnostic testing, and early stage vaccine development. Housing up to 200 employees, the Centre includes a training area for biocontainment laboratory operations. The facility will also support research on HIV/AIDS and antimicrobial resistant organisms.
The University of Michigan is planning to build the $261 million Biological Science Building in Ann Arbor. Designed by SmithGroup JJR, the 300,000-sf facility will provide research labs, classrooms, offices, and a vivarium for the Department of Ecology and Evolutionary Biology and the Department of Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology. Providing open, flexible laboratories for collaborative research, the building will be constructed adjacent to the existing Life Sciences Institute to which it will physically connect.
Harlan Laboratories will create an animal research breeding facility in Hyderabad, India. The project will support production of immunodeficient mice for oncology and immunology research. The biosecure facility will supply mice solely to the Indian research market.
The following is a compilation of responses to a survey that asked individuals responsible for planning, design, operations, and maintenance of high-containment facilities to rank their priorities for 2014 and make open-ended comments regarding those priorities. The issues identified in this survey will be the focus of Tradeline’s upcoming conference—The 2014 International Conference on Biocontainment Facilities—on April 10‐11 in Scottsdale, Arizona.
The respondents ranked their overall priorities as follows:
A comprehensive renovation of Harvard University’s 105,000-sf Sherman Fairchild Building for the Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Department has allowed researchers to work more efficiently and collaboratively than ever before, with shared fume hoods and environmental, imaging, and equipment rooms. High-use support spaces, such as tissue culture rooms, were moved to the building exterior to take advantage of natural light, while the other shared spaces were moved to the interior.
Tata Memorial Centre has opened a cryogenic mouse embryo storage bank in Mumbai. Located at the Advanced Centre for Treatment, Research and Education in Cancer (ACTREC), the facility will preserve valuable genetic strains of laboratory rodents to support biomedical research by the Laboratory Animal Facility (LAF). Cryopreservation enables the storage of biological material at extremely low temperatures for long periods of time. The LAF maintains 22 different strains of mice as well as two strains of hamsters, one strain of rats, and one rabbit strain.
The $270 million Albert Sherman Center expands and unifies the UMass Medical School’s Worcester campus, doubling its research capacity and supporting the school’s new learner-centered curriculum. The 512,000-sf state-of-the-art interdisciplinary research and education facility fosters interaction and collaboration among scientists and promotes innovation and synergies across disciplines, bringing together researchers from one research building and several smaller satellite buildings and leased spaces.
The Coachella Valley Mosquito and Vector Control District is constructing a new BSL-3 laboratory, to be completed in March 2014, to reduce turnaround time on mosquito testing by bringing currently outsourced procedures in-house. The District is dedicated to arbovirus (arthropod-borne virus) surveillance, focusing on mosquito abundance, mosquito infections, and avian infections to target mosquito control in areas that are the most important to preventing disease transmission. By limiting mosquito control to selected areas, the District lowers expense, time, and labor, and minimizes harm to the environment.
The following is a condensed transcript of a panel discussion from Tradeline’s 2013 International Conference on Research Facilities. The panelists are William Gustafson, principal at Ballinger; Steven Frei, principal at Affiliated Engineers, and Michael Reagan, vice president of Stantec. The moderator is Steve Westfall, founder and CEO of Tradeline.
The Australian Animal Health Laboratory (AAHL), a high-containment facility in Geelong, Victoria, has been operating 24/7 with no shutdowns, even for maintenance or upgrades, for nearly 30 years, thanks to the initial design, selection of materials, and quality of construction.
The AAHL—with BSL-2, BSL-3, and BSL-4 biocontainment areas—has an extensive redundant plant to ensure that critical systems, such as the air handling units, remain continually operational. The facility was one of the first in the world to use microprocessor control for all engineering systems.
AgriBio, Centre for AgriBioscience is one of Australia's premier biosciences facilities, with a key emphasis on supporting and protecting Victoria's $8.4 billion (USD) agricultural sector by focusing on cutting-edge research to improve productivity, fight disease, and reduce environmental impact. The state-of-the-art research facility serves joint venture partners La Trobe University (La Trobe) and the Victorian Department of Primary Industries (DPI).
The University of Edinburgh opened the first phase of the National Avian Research Facility in early 2013. The $7.9 million facility is part of a collaborative two-building research campus currently under construction for the Roslin Institute of the Royal (Dick) School of Veterinary Studies and The Pirbright Institute. Ground was broken on the project in early 2013. Phase two of the $22 million project is expected to open in late 2014.
