Facilities
Animal care units are located in Hochstetter Hall and Park Hall at the North Campus; Biomedical Education Building, Biomedical Research Building, Cary Hall and Sherman Hall at the South Campus; and one off campus location, the Research Institute on Addictions.
The Laboratory Animal Facilities headquarters is located in the Biomedical Education Building at the South Campus. It occupies all four floors in the north wing of the building and has 79,000 gross square feet of space. This facility was designed as a multiple corridor animal facility that can be used as a clean/dirty corridor or as a conventional unit. The HVAC system is designed to meet the requirements of the clean/dirty corridor concept. Two elevators, one in the clean side and the other in the dirty side, connect the cage sanitation area with the animal housing areas and are used to service this facility. In addition to animal holding rooms, this facility has all the necessary support areas such as a surgery suite, X-ray facility, diagnostic laboratories and administrative space. The Biomedical Education Building is directly connected with the Biomedical Research Building as well as with Cary, Farber and Sherman Halls, where most of the basic science departments and research laboratories are located.
Other conventional animal care facilities are located in Hochstetter Hall and Park Hall at the North Campus, and at the Research Institute on Addictions.
BSL-2
A Biosafety Level 2 Unit is available on the third floor of the Biomedical Education Building animal facility. This is a self-contained unit within the animal facility. The size of this unit is 1500 square feet of space; it has eleven small rooms (cubicles) and the following support areas: two air locks (one at the entrance and one at the exit), a clean area near the entrance, a shower change area, a large work area with a sink, and two small storage areas. The design features include:a completely separate HVAC system, seamless construction with epoxy paint finish and directional (negative) air pressure. A pass through sterilizer is available for decontamination purposes. Pre-filters and HEPA filters are used to treat the air supply; pre-filters, charcoal, and HEPA filters are utilized to treat the air exhaust. This unit meets all the CDC recommendations.
SPF
A Specific Pathogen Free unit is available on the first floor between the Biomedical Education and Biomedical Research Buildings. This is also a self-contained unit that consists of eight suites; each suite consisting of an animal holding room and a separate procedure area which is designed to provide space to perform treatments/procedures without having to take animals out of their immediate environment. All animals are housed under strict sterile conditions in micro isolator cages and ventilated racks. HEPA filtered cabinets located in each suite are used for animal manipulations. The SPF facility is designed specifically to house rodents that are either transgenic or immunosuppressed. Positive airflow and HEPA filters ensure air passes from the inside of the facility out, to keep potential pathogens from entering the area. The SPF facility has the following support areas:
- Male and female locker rooms with pass-through showers.
- A pass-through decontamination room (to decontaminate, disinfect large equipment).
- A pass-through autoclave (to autoclave plastic cages and other supplies).
- A pass-through animal receiving port.
- A storage/work area.
- A janitor's closet.
Surgical facilities
State of the art surgical facilities are available on the third floor of the Biomedical Education Building. The surgical suite consists of two operating rooms for aseptic surgery, one operating/procedure room non-aseptic, an instrument preparation area, animal preparation, surgeon's preparation and animal recovery rooms. X-ray facilities and developing are also available. The surgery suite is equipped with anesthesia machines and a variety of monitoring equipment to ensure the success of all surgical procedures. For more information or to schedule a procedure, please click on Veterinary Services.
