The University of Kentucky (UK) requests support to fit-up the first floor of the new Healthy Kentucky Research Building (HKRB, also referred to as RB2) for vascular researchers within an overall 6 floor facility that is dedicated to research addressing and eradicating health disparities that disproportionately influence the lives of Kentuckians, especially those living in rural Appalachia. The proposed fit-up will complete 17,350 square feet of laboratory shell space for investigators performing vascular (both central and peripheral blood vessels) research across a variety of disciplines to detect, mechanistically define and treat a broad array of diseases influenced by blood vessel function, including aortopathies, atherosclerosis, and Alzheimer's disease and related dementias. To facilitate integration of research approaches and translation of basic and applied research within the fit-up first floor, UK will fit-up an imaging core facility within the basement of HKRB that will be used by these and other investigators within the facility and across the institution. The focus on vascular research within the first floor of HKRB builds upon existing research strengths in this area across the institution, an ability to engage multiple disciplines and academic units, long-term sustainability, and the significance of the research for the health of Kentucky. Specifically, this project will (1) Fit-up the first floor (17,350 sq ft) of HKRB, creating two neighborhoods with 6 benches/neighborhood (total of 12 laboratory benches), fixed casework and equipment, (2) Fit-up of a linear equipment hall spanning the length of wet laboratory neighborhoods that includes one autoclave and one cold room, (3) Fit-up 16 procedure rooms (200 sq ft/procedure room) within the wet laboratory neighborhood design, two of which have 3 fume hoods/each, and (4) Fit-up associated technical personnel space, investigator space and collaborative spaces. Construction of 60% of HKRB was supported from the State legislature for health disparities research, and the building design has many attributes that should facilitate the research of investigators on the fit-up first floor, including adjacent location of dry laboratory researchers approaching the problem from a different perspective, two connected research buildings with a biomedical focus, a full vivarium with several core facilities (including the imaging service core), open neighborhood laboratory design to promote collaborative vascular research, and other elements (e.g., indoor bike room) that promote a healthy lifestyle. Vascular research within the fit-up first floor of HKRB is an institutional priority that is targeted for additional growth, which will be achieved through support of this project. The fit-up of the first floor of HKRB provides high quality collaborative biomedical research and core facility space to attract and retain outstanding vascular researchers across multiple disciplines who use a variety of imaging approaches.
