Building on our strengths in rheumatology, autoimmunity and immunology, as well as our unique rural and American Indian patient populations, the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation (OMRF) requests funds to build-out approximately two floors of shell space in our eight-story Research Tower for clinical and laboratory patient-oriented research in immune-based human disease. This OMRF Research Tower is currently under construction and is located in the central United States. Funds are in hand to complete construction of the shell space for this application. This is one of the first buildings in Oklahoma to have achieved Gold certification by the US Green Building Council's Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design program. The proposed build-out will add 8,200 sf of clinical space for patient evaluation, enrollment, testing and care, as well as 16,600 sf of bench biomedical research laboratory space on the floor above for associated patient-oriented research. These new resources would support 10 current NIH- funded clinical investigators and their research teams, as well as 6 new recruits (with 3 offer letters pending). In addition, funds are requested to build-out space on the interstitial mechanical floor to serve as a Centralized Long-term Biosample Cryostorage facility (CLBC). This space will include ~913 sq. ft. of -200C space (6391 cu ft) and ~2500 cu. ft. of -75 to -800C space with shared -40C antechamber hallway space to provide for more efficient conditioned environment for the low-temperature storage rooms. The CLBC will allow careful monitoring and protection of large collections of samples of well-phenotyped patient and control collections from pediatric and adult autoimmune, immune-based and inflammatory diseases, as well as controls.
The specific aims of this proposal focus on construction of state-of-the-art, multi-disciplinary, wet-bench and clinical research space with specialized ophthalmic and dental space, infusion center, clinical informatics and support space to house clinical research for large, multi- investigator NIH-funded research in autoimmunity, such as the Oklahoma Autoimmunity Center of Excellence, Oklahoma Rheumatic Disease Research Cores Center, and Native American Research Center of Excellence to Understand Rheumatic Disease in Oklahoma Tribal Members, as well as to support understanding human immune responses to various types of vaccination through NIAID funded contracts and U19 cooperative agreements. Of course, additional NIH- and Foundation-supported clinical research will also be supported by this construction. Built-in equipment required for appropriate use of this space is also requested. Additional aims focus on construction and support of large, centralized freezers and cryopreservation facilities which will support the above investigators, as well as investigators throughout OMRF. Finally, an important aim of this proposed work is to facilitate construction and operations of the new research space according to environmentally responsible and energy efficient principles that have been incorporated into the progressive design and implementation of an outstanding LEED certified facility. This work is led by a diverse, experienced, research intensive construction team. A detailed independent economic impact analysis concluded that OMRF has a $47 million annual impact on Oklahoma's economy and creates an estimated 1,061 jobs. The study also concludes that every job created by an external grant creates one additional job in this state. The proposed build-out is conservatively estimated to contribute wholly or in part to the creation of 156 jobs in Oklahoma, as well as an infusion of money for materials and equipment into at least 18 states.
