This application proposes construction of the Procedural and Behavioral Housing Suites (PBHS), a 5,215 sq. ft. vivarium expansion in the BRC at the UC- Irvine College of Medicine. Partially completed and under phased construction, the BRC is planned as a four building, 200,000 sq. ft. complex dedicated to interdisciplinary research in the areas of neuroscience, cancer, genetics, immunology, and infectious disease. Biomedical research by current faculty and those under recruitment relies heavily on animal research, creating an urgent need to increase vivarium space for PBHS. The project would expand the existing 12,320 sq. ft. Gillespie Vivarium and connect the underground vivarium complex to the four BRC buildings (one operational, two under construction, and one planned). The PBHS would consist of three suites, each efficiently combining rooms of three basic types: 1) procedure rooms; 2) behavioral testing rooms; and 3) rodent holding rooms. The construction also would include a smaller three-room Gillespie Vivarium Extension (one housing room, one behavioral testing room, and an anteroom). The procedure and behavioral testing rooms have been designed to allow conversion into animal housing or a different mix of testing and procedure rooms. There is an architectural option to convert one or more of the suites into barrier facilities if need arises. Temporary procedure and testing rooms would be released to revert to their original purpose of animal housing. The application identifies a group of PHS-funded faculty members who would use the PBHS to advance biomedical knowledge in areas important to the nation's health.
