The University of Queensland is relocating the School of Veterinary Science from Brisbane to Gatton, Australia. Housing teaching and research facilities, the $100 million project is slated for completion in late 2009. The $33 million Centre for Advanced Animal Science, funded by the Queensland Government, is also under construction in Gatton.
The British Columbia Agricultural Council completed a $14 million CL-3 testing laboratory at the Animal Health Centre in Abbotsford in December of 2008. The veterinary diagnostic laboratory will test animal samples for infectious diseases and features sophisticated air filtration, waste handling, and decontamination systems. Construction began on the project in December of 2006. Operations will begin at the new facility in early 2009 following commissioning by the Canadian Food Inspection Agency.
Yale University’s new BSL-3 laboratory will open in early 2009. Located on the ninth floor of the School of Public Health building in New Haven, Conn., the facility will support animal and non-animal research on infectious diseases including West Nile Virus, SARS, Yellow Fever, and anthrax. The laboratory features a single-pass airflow system, waterproof ceilings, and completely sealed penetrations.
Animal housing manufacturer Allentown Inc. formed Allentown Integration (AI) in November of 2008. Comprised of strategic partnerships with solution providers including LYNX Product Group and Belimed, AI offers a complete package of automation, animal housing, cagewash and equipment maintenance products, and bedding dispensing and removal systems. Providing an integrated solution for animal research facilities, AI installs turnkey animal housing and equipment packages for biomedical research.
The University of Florida is planning to construct the $2 million Aquatic Pathobiology Laboratory in Gainesville. Funded by $1.267 million from the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST), the 6,990-sf research facility will include the Aquatic Animal Health Facility, small and large animal necropsy, molecular diagnostics, aquatic animal holding, and water preparation rooms.
The CDC’s Division of Select Agents and Toxins has awarded SRA International a $24.9 million contract to provide laboratory support services to the Select Agent Program. Awarded in September of 2008, the five-year contract is a recompete of work the company has supported since 2002 through the acquisition of Constella Group. Under the contract, SRA will continue to help CDC track the possession, use, and transfer of select agents in the U.S.
The University of Oxford opened its £20 million Biomedical Sciences Building in the United Kingdom in November of 2008. Construction began on the animal research laboratory in 2003. Full research operations will commence in mid-2009. The facility primarily houses mice; 98 percent of the animals in the building are rodents with a small amount of fish, frogs, ferrets, and nonhuman primates.
McLaughlin Research Institute is engaged in a $4.3 million expansion and renovation of its animal resource center at the Institute for Biomedical Sciences in Great Falls, Mont. The project includes the acquisition of individually ventilated cages and new cage washing and sterilization equipment. The two-story expansion will increase mouse vivarium space and will accommodate two additional biomedical research groups. A XYCLONE laser module will improve the production of gene-targeted mice to produce new mouse models for human diseases.
Virginia Tech opened a new equine cell and molecular research laboratory at the Marion duPont Scott Equine Medical Center in Leesburg in September of 2008. The 2,500-sf facility will support the growth of stem cells for study and clinical application as well as providing training for scientists engaged in equine and biomedical research.
San Diego-based contract research organization Bio-Quant received full accreditation from the Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) International in October of 2008. AAALAC’s extensive on-site evaluation determined that the highest level of animal care and research practices are being implemented by Bio-Quant. The accreditation follows upon an operational and infrastructure expansion project at the site.
Charles River Laboratories opened its 60,000-sf preclinical facility in Shanghai in October of 2008. The drug development building will begin providing GLP (Good Laboratory Practice) biopharmaceutical research and development services in the first quarter of 2009. The project includes vivarium facilities for animal research and will comply with AAALAC (Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care) and U.S. FDA guidelines.
The North Carolina Research Campus celebrated the opening of three buildings on its 350-acre life sciences campus in Kannapolis in October of 2008. The $1.5 billion project was designed by Narmour Wright Creech Architecture and developed by Castle & Cooke. The campus includes the 311,000-sf Murdock Core Lab which features a basement vivarium housing 48,000 rodents.
The University of Tennessee Health Science Center’s $25 million Regional Biocontainment Laboratory is slated for completion in early 2009. Located in the UT-Baptist Research Park in Memphis, the 30,315-gsf (16,250-nsf) project will provide 7,300-sf of BSL-3 research space, 1,257-sf of BSL-2 research space, and 7,695-sf of office and support space. Additionally, UTHSC will initiate construction in the first half of 2009 on a 50,000-sf to 70,000-sf vivarium adjacent to the RBL. Completion is expected in 2010.
Pfizer is investing $3 million to expand its Animal Genetics unit in Kalamazoo, Mich. Twenty employees will be relocated to Building 300 from a site in Louisiana that will be closed. The new Animal Genetics unit will open in March of 2009. The project is part of Pfizer’s $50 million consolidation of its Veterinary Medicine Research and Development operations to the Kalamazoo campus. Researchers will be transferred from sites in Richland Township, Pa., and Sandwich, U.K.
The University of Kentucky broke ground on a $28.5 million expansion and renovation of the Kentucky Livestock Disease Diagnostic Center in Lexington in September of 2008. The project will include the construction of a necropsy laboratory wing and an administrative wing, nearly doubling the size of the existing 38,000-sf building, which will be completely renovated. The facility will also switch to alkaline digestion for tissue disposal. Completion is expected by 2010.
