60NANB23D115

Purpose: To address two major limitations at the University of Toledo (UTOLEDO): [1] The current BSL3/A-BSL3 is too small (2 rooms; 1099 ft2) to recruit new microbiology/infectious disease faculty or to accommodate additional research projects. For example, MMI virologists were delayed in 2020 in working with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, because of BSL3 space/equipment limitations and personnel security clearance (FBI background checks are needed because the current BSL3/A-BSL3 is CDC-designated as a Tier 1 select agent facility; most restrictive federal regulations); [2] DLAR needs to renovate existing spaces to be more efficient, provide additional housing and procedure rooms, and create isolated rooms for specialized research needs (e.g., microbiome research).

Activities to be performed: Expand the UTOLEDO BSL3/A-BSL3 facility into adjacent DLAR space, creating 3 new biocontainment suites for Tier 1 select agent BSL3/A-BSL3 research, more than doubling the size of the current BSL3/A-BSL3 facility (1480 ft2 of new BSL3/A-BSL3 space). These 3 new suites will be used to study diseases like plague, anthrax, and tularemia. Separate suites are ideal for biosecurity, biocontainment, and personnel safety. This new Tier 1 select agent space will contain its own pass-through autoclave (enhances biosafety by providing a backup to the existing BSL3/A-BSL3 pass-through autoclave), decontamination chamber (for chemical disinfection of contaminated equipment), and shared equipment spaces.

Renovate the existing BSL3/A-BSL3 space (2 rooms; 1099 ft2) and associated entry/exit (2 rooms; 115 ft2) into 3 new biocontainment suites for non-select agent research and create a new shared entry/exit space for both select agent and non-select agent BSL3/A-BSL3 spaces with gowning, de-gowning, and decontamination shower areas. The creation of this new non-select agent BSL3/A-BSL3 space will allow any UTOLEDO researcher (no FBI background checks required), with Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) approval, to rapidly initiate projects on existing and/or emerging BSL3 pathogens (e.g., COVID-19, influenza, tuberculosis, future pandemics). The shared entry/exit space will provide enlarged spaces for putting on, taking off, and decontaminating personnel protective equipment (PPE). In addition to the 3 new suites, the non-select agent BSL3/A-BSL3 will contain a pass-through autoclave (will relocate the existing BSL3/A-BSL3 autoclave) and shared equipment spaces.

Remodel 21 existing DLAR rooms, unused/redundant hallways, and underutilized spaces (14,350 ft2 gross renovation; 11,308 ft2 room renovations) into new multi-purpose rooms for either animal procedures and/or animal housing, including the creation of a new isolation suite that could be used for germ-free/microbiome studies. These DLAR renovations are critically needed because of increased UTOLEDO research funding, associated increases in animal research, and limited available space but will address current and projected UTOLEDO, providing multi-purpose DLAR vivarium space for existing biomedical science faculty and ongoing faculty recruitment efforts at UTOLEDO.

Expected outcomes: Across UTOLEDO, the proposed DLAR renovations will directly support and enhance current research, help retain nationally-recognized faculty, and aid in ongoing efforts to recruit the best and brightest talent to UTOLEDO.

Intended beneficiaries: Areas of research excellence and research centers and institutes, hundreds of UTOLEDO faculty, staff, and student researchers extensively use DLAR spaces for animal housing (including telemetry for continuous monitoring), animal procedure rooms, and specialized or isolated housing/procedure spaces (e.g., lentivirus- or adenovirus-transfections; cancer or chemotherapy studies; germ-free isolation rooms for microbiome studies).

Subrecipient activities: No subrecipients have been identified or proposed.

University Of Toledo

11.617 - Congressionally-Identified Projects

National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) [DOC]

Toledo, Ohio 43614-2595 United States

Single Zip Code

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