? The Morehouse School of Medicine (MSM) proposes to upgrade the animal care and use program by facility renovations and acquisition of fixed equipment necessary to support expanding and increasingly sophisticated animal based research programs. These improvements will provide for facility security, animal caging, support resources for animal husbandry and veterinary medical care, and hazard containment. These actions will facilitate our long held goal of accreditation by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC). We propose to meet the research requirements for our animal resources by: (1) making necessary renovations: The addition of exhaust manifolds in the animal rooms to allow direct connection of ventilated rodent caging to the building system; provision to exhaust air in air locks of the barrier/containment suite to facilitate maintenance of unidirectional air flow; removal of double door entry from the cage washing rooms; installation of card key readers to 5 access doors to the facility; and renovation for installation of bulk autoclave in the clean cage wash room; (2) acquisition of needed fixed caging and support equipment including: ventilated, barrier mouse cages; ventilated, barrier rat cages; biological safety cabinets; down draft necropsy table/work station; reverse osmosis animal water system; bulk autoclave; steam generator for autoclave; bedding disposal system; and cold room. ? ?
