The Pennsylvania State University (PSU) has a significant biomedical research program at University Park (UP). PSU receives in excess of $215 million in federally funded grants and contracts annually. Since FY 1988 NIH funded research at UP has grown from $ 8 million to over $14 million in FY 1991. The Laboratory Animal Resources Program (LARP) supports this research program and provides animal procurement, management of space and resources, and care of all laboratory animals used in research, teaching and testing programs at UP. Currently 84 investigators conducting 192 projects for an aggregate value in excess of $ 14 million are supported by LARP. Increases in faculty requirements for high quality laboratory animal housing and care and proposed consolidation of existing facilities have created a need for improvement in the animal space at UP. This proposed animal facility improvement project is one of several underway at University Park. The others are focussed on improving our agricultural animal resources. Specifically this project will improve the laboratory animal resources by accomplishing three specific aims: (1) It will permit consolidation of 14 existing animal facilities into 10 facilities; improving our ability to coordinate and manage the laboratory animal program. (2) It will bring our program into compliance with existing PHS policies and USDA regulations. (3) In concert with improvements and new construction related to the facilities for agricultural species it will position the UP campus for its planned application for AAALAC accreditation. In summary, the proposed improvements will significantly enhance and improve our animal care program and its support for future biomedical teaching and research endeavors at UP.
