The project described herein is intended to complete the current phase of the animal resources development plan adopted by the University in 1982. Grant funds are requested to renovate 6,488 sq. ft. of old animal rooms in a laboratory animal facility comprising 21,519 square feet of housing and support space which has maintained AAALAC accreditation continuously since 1977. The improvements consist of removal and replacement of wall and floor elements in animal holding rooms with materials proven in a multi-year usage trial to be the most effective and cost-efficient in maintaining compliance with the highest standards of animal husbandry. The renovations will be done in a building which has been in continuous heavy use for 23 years. These rooms have presented a significant, chronic problem in terms of meeting AAALAC standards. Only by making frequent, costly and short-lived temporary repairs has the University been able to maintain compliance. The renovations will involve 36 rooms, where floor and wall elements will be removed and replaced, and a new water-impermeable, seamless surface will be created. Funded research utilizing laboratory animals at Jefferson has expanded significantly in recent years. Currently, 57 NIH-funded and 3 ADAMHA-funded projects aggregating $13,628,180 (total costs), plus 11 other federally-funded projects aggregating an additional $3,073,755, utilize this animal facility, along with 29 nonfederally-funded research projects with an aggregate cost of $3,667,660. On July 1, 1991, 34 new faculty will join the university, transferring more than $10 million in existing grant support to Jefferson. Over the past six fiscal years the institution has invested more than $5.03 million in capital improvements for its animal facility (including a matching component of $155,000 for an earlier NIH award AR- 3 (AHR) I R24RR05413). This does not include the cost of a new 13,700 sq. ft. state of the art animal facility nearing completion the Bluemle Life Sciences Building, a 11 story research facility costing $75 million. The renovations comprising this project are vitally important for the University's federally funded research, and it pledges the required matching funds for this project.
