Located approximately 4,000 km from both North America and the islands of Polynesia in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, Hawaii serves as a principal U.S. gateway to and from Asia, and as a major tourist destination for people worldwide. It is also home to some of the Nation's most strategic Army, Navy, Air Force and Marine Corps military bases. Because of the heavy tourist traffic from Asia and elsewhere, and the presence of military forces, Hawaii is at high risk for natural and deliberate introductions of exotic infectious diseases. Against this backdrop, containment laboratories for select agents and other human pathogens are woefully inadequate in Hawaii. Thus, in response to the global resurgence of new, emerging and re-emerging infectious diseases in the Asia-Pacific region, and to fulfill the needs to significantly improve the physical infrastructure for bioterrorism preparedness and response and for emerging infectious diseases research, this application from the University of Hawaii proposes to build the Pacific Regional Biocontainment Laboratory (PacRBL), a 70,000-gross square foot, stand-alone containment facility with suitably equipped spaces for research on select agents using cell-culture systems and animal models in rodents and nonhuman primates. By drawing on the complementary strengths and resources within the University of Hawaii, as well as from state and federal agencies (including the State of Hawaii Department of Health, the U.S. Pacific Command, and Tripler Army Medical Center), and the private sector (Hawaii Biotech, Inc.), the PacRBL will be anchored by the tenets of public health and of trans-disciplinary and translational research. Adequate matching funds for this high-priority initiative are in place, and research funding from NIAID and other federal agencies and private foundations, secured by the lead institution and its partners, fully justify the construction of a regional biocontainment laboratory. In turn, the availability of the proposed multi-user, state-of-the-art facility will help to expand and diversify the research portfolio on biodefense and emerging infectious diseases for the State of Hawaii. Moreover, the PacRBL will serve as a regional resource for national and international bioterrorism emergencies and as a reference diagnostic center for outbreaks of newly recognized infectious diseases originating in the Asia-Pacific Region.
