The Animal Resources Facility at Albany Medical College currently is in need of flooring renovations, relocation of receiving area, additional quarantine facilities, equipment for cage changing and handling pathogen free rodents, and equipment for developing a facility for housing rodents exposed to chemical, radiation, and microbial biohazards. The USDA-APHIS noted flooring deficiencies during previous site visits. Because of the chronicity of the flooring problems, we propose replacing existing floors in most of the animal rooms, surgical suite, and cage wash area with a high performance polymer floor. We propose relocating our receiving area to a location with direct outside access, thereby improving the receiving process and quarantining program. A quarantine facility will be located adjacent to the receiving area. Laminar flow cabinets for cage changing are requested to permit rodent cage changing under a laminar flow cabinet in rodent SPF rooms that currently are not equipped with this equipment but are equipped with Thoren ventilated rodent housing racks. A biosafety level IIB cabinet, a Thoren ventilated rack with HEPA filtration and alarm system, and a portable bedding changing station is requested to provide equipment for funded projects involving the use of biohazards. The portable bedding changing station will also be used for rodent bedding dumping to reduce the risk of exposure to rodent allergens.
