? A group of 16 investigators in the Department of Veterinary and Comparative Anatomy, Pharmacology, and Physiology (VCAPP) of the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the College of Pharmacy at Washington State University seeks to enhance their research programs through a major renovation of their primary laboratory animal facility, the Wegner Hall Vivarium. Collectively, these investigators depend on the Wegner Hall Vivarium for laboratory animal needs in conducting biomedical research funded by 22 active and 13 pending R01, R21, and R15 grants from 11different Institutes of the NIH. The animal-based research funded by the NIH grants in these 16 research programs ($5.75 million) accounts for one-half of all NIH-funded animal-based research on the Pullman (main) campus of Washington State University (WSU). The current Wegner Hall Vivarium was constructed in 1980, as part of the complete renovation of Wegner Hall. Since then, the Departments of VCAPP and Pharmaceutical Sciences have undergone tremendous research program growth (e.g., 42% real growth over the past 7 years), and both anticipate continued strong growth. The vivarium has reached its limits not only in terms of animal holding capacity but also, more importantly, in terms of inadequate functional ability to support modern research. Deficiencies that we seek to correct include lack of quarantine space; overlap of clean and dirty flow of materials; overlap of vivarium traffic with public spaces; inadequate procedure space; aging and inadequate cage/rack washer; inadequate storage space; and limits on holding space, especially with respect to the need to segregate animals from many different sources, many of them non-commercial. We propose to complete renovations that will correct or mitigate these deficiencies by fulfilling the following Specific Aims, which are focused mostly on functional enhancement of the facility: ? ? Improve flow of materials and personnel in the facility to reduce overlap of clean and dirty traffic; Create a quarantine room; Create better separation of public and vivarium traffic and increase facility security; Create a dedicated receiving area; Upgrade and modernize the rack washer Increase storage space for clean cages, feed, and bedding; Increase the amount procedure space and re-locate it better to serve its function(s); and Increase, slightly, animal holding capacity and add flexibility. ? ? The proposed functional improvements are critical to enhance current NIH-funded research by minimizing the risk of disease transmission to protect valuable animal populations and research, enhancing facility security, and improving public health. In addition, the proposed renovations are necessary to maintain an efficiently managed and accredited facility to better serve the growth we anticipate in research funding and the continued evolution of research programs leading to proliferation of strains of gene targeted animals from non-commercial sources that are a challenge for us to manage given current facility limitations. ? ? ?
