C06OD037773
Project Grant
Overview
Grant Description
Modernization of high and maximum containment research facilities at the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) to meet current and future national research priorities - Project summary/abstract.
The National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) at Boston University (BU) was established to generate essential information about new and reemerging infectious pathogens and the diseases they cause, to facilitate development of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics, and to train future generations of scientists to safely study pathogens with pandemic potential.
It is one of two national laboratories housing both high (biosafety level 3) and maximum (biosafety level 4) containment labs established by the National Institute of Health (NIH) at academic medical centers as part of the biodefence research program.
Increasing frequency of new and reemerging high consequence pathogens causing human (and animal) diseases and the limited availability of proven safe and effective medical countermeasures highlight the need to improve operational efficiency for research on risk group 3 pathogens.
NEIDL was designed in 2003, completed in 2008, and approved for containment research in 2018.
Shortly after research operations had begun, NEIDL investigators were faced with the need to urgently pivot to work on the new pandemic pathogen, SARS-CoV-2.
This effort revealed infrastructure deficiencies in the facility that impeded research flexibility, reduced operational efficiency and turnaround time between studies, limited the number of pathogens and arthropod vectors that could be investigated concurrently, and slowed scientific productivity and the development of essential medical countermeasures and diagnostics.
The following three modernization goals identified will significantly improve our ability to manage the facility and better meet these future research needs:
Goal 1. Modify biosafety level (BSL)-3 and animal biosafety level (ABSL)-3 spaces to facilitate individual room isolation for decontamination and essential maintenance, allowing uninterrupted work in other BSL-3/ABSL-3 areas.
Updating the original room air pressure control systems will preclude inadvertent positive pressurization of adjacent spaces, while the installation of additional in-parallel high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter housings will increase capacity for extended or phased risk group 3 studies in animals and room by room annual maintenance and certification.
Goal 2. Renovate arthropod containment (high) level space to add capacity for tick research and permit concurrent mosquito vector studies, facilitate direct vector-to-host transmission studies in animal models of human disease, and improve vector biosecurity when doors are opened and closed.
Goal 3. Modernize and convert the BSL-4 air locks to Microchem as an option to gaseous phase decontamination to reduce the required process time from days to minutes and expedite turnaround time for studies to resume.
The National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories (NEIDL) at Boston University (BU) was established to generate essential information about new and reemerging infectious pathogens and the diseases they cause, to facilitate development of vaccines, therapeutics, and diagnostics, and to train future generations of scientists to safely study pathogens with pandemic potential.
It is one of two national laboratories housing both high (biosafety level 3) and maximum (biosafety level 4) containment labs established by the National Institute of Health (NIH) at academic medical centers as part of the biodefence research program.
Increasing frequency of new and reemerging high consequence pathogens causing human (and animal) diseases and the limited availability of proven safe and effective medical countermeasures highlight the need to improve operational efficiency for research on risk group 3 pathogens.
NEIDL was designed in 2003, completed in 2008, and approved for containment research in 2018.
Shortly after research operations had begun, NEIDL investigators were faced with the need to urgently pivot to work on the new pandemic pathogen, SARS-CoV-2.
This effort revealed infrastructure deficiencies in the facility that impeded research flexibility, reduced operational efficiency and turnaround time between studies, limited the number of pathogens and arthropod vectors that could be investigated concurrently, and slowed scientific productivity and the development of essential medical countermeasures and diagnostics.
The following three modernization goals identified will significantly improve our ability to manage the facility and better meet these future research needs:
Goal 1. Modify biosafety level (BSL)-3 and animal biosafety level (ABSL)-3 spaces to facilitate individual room isolation for decontamination and essential maintenance, allowing uninterrupted work in other BSL-3/ABSL-3 areas.
Updating the original room air pressure control systems will preclude inadvertent positive pressurization of adjacent spaces, while the installation of additional in-parallel high efficiency particulate air (HEPA) filter housings will increase capacity for extended or phased risk group 3 studies in animals and room by room annual maintenance and certification.
Goal 2. Renovate arthropod containment (high) level space to add capacity for tick research and permit concurrent mosquito vector studies, facilitate direct vector-to-host transmission studies in animal models of human disease, and improve vector biosecurity when doors are opened and closed.
Goal 3. Modernize and convert the BSL-4 air locks to Microchem as an option to gaseous phase decontamination to reduce the required process time from days to minutes and expedite turnaround time for studies to resume.
Awardee
Funding Goals
TO RENOVATE EXISTING RESEARCH FACILITIES AND BUILD NEW RESEARCH FACILITIES TO MEET BASIC AND CLINICAL SPACE REQUIREMENTS, LABORATORY SAFETY, BIOHAZARD CONTAINMENT, AND ANIMAL CARE STANDARDS IN ORDER TO SUPPORT THE FACILITY DEMANDS OF NIH RESEARCH PROGRAMS.
Grant Program (CFDA)
Awarding Agency
Place of Performance
Massachusetts
United States
Geographic Scope
State-Wide
Related Opportunity
Trustees Of Boston University was awarded
NEIDL Modernization for Future Research Goals
Project Grant C06OD037773
worth $7,541,758
from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in September 2024 with work to be completed primarily in Massachusetts United States.
The grant
has a duration of 4 years 8 months and
was awarded through assistance program 93.352 Construction Support.
The Project Grant was awarded through grant opportunity Biomedical Research Facilities (C06 Clinical Trial Not Allowed).
Status
(Ongoing)
Last Modified 1/21/25
Period of Performance
9/17/24
Start Date
5/31/29
End Date
Funding Split
$7.5M
Federal Obligation
$0.0
Non-Federal Obligation
$7.5M
Total Obligated
Activity Timeline
Transaction History
Modifications to C06OD037773
Additional Detail
Award ID FAIN
C06OD037773
SAI Number
C06OD037773-946293948
Award ID URI
SAI UNAVAILABLE
Awardee Classifications
Private Institution Of Higher Education
Awarding Office
75AGNA NIH AGGREGATE FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE DATA AWARDING OFFICE
Funding Office
75NA00 NIH OFFICE OF THE DIRECTOR
Awardee UEI
FBYMGMHW4X95
Awardee CAGE
4CY87
Performance District
MA-90
Senators
Edward Markey
Elizabeth Warren
Elizabeth Warren
Modified: 1/21/25