This grant application request funds for the purchase of additional ventilated cage racks to meet the continuing demand for cage space in the new Rodent Barrier Facility (RBF). The Oklahoma University Health Sciences Center (OUHSC) has a total of 53 active grants and 23 pending grants involving rodent programs that benefit greatly from being housed in a barrier facility. The OUHSC has identified four areas of research concentration which includes cancer, diabetes, neurosciences/vision and infectious diseases. Utilization of both transgenic and knockout rodents has necessitated an update in rodent research resource facilities. An NIH C 06 grant partially funded the new Rodent Barrier Facility. The C-06 provided four million dollars in support and the University supplied the balance of the funds for construction of the facility totaling over ten million dollars. The University also funded the purchase of 24 ventilated racks for mice and eight ventilated racks for rats at a cost of $872,000 dollars. Subsequently six additional rat ventilated racks were funded by the University at a cost of $118,000. The administration created and funded an additional full time position for a veterinarian and staff to augment the rodent program. Our population of rodents in the barrier has increased at a rapid pace. This growth is the result of both rederivation of transgenic and knockout rodent colonies and recruitment of new faculty that utilize rodents. Faculty are being recruited to fill 18 new endowed research professorship positions further increasing the need for a larger housing capacity in the RBF.
