G20AI167200

Regional Biocontainment Laboratories Facility and Building System Upgrades Support - Project Summary/Abstract:

The Duke Regional Biocontainment Laboratory (RBL) was constructed with funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to support basic research necessary to develop drugs, diagnostics, and vaccines for emerging/reemerging infections and biodefense. The state-of-the-art biocontainment facility, designed to support lab and small animal research, was fully commissioned and opened for operation in 2007 on the Duke University Medical School campus in Durham, NC.

The Duke RBL facility supports grant/contract-funded investigators and also provides biocontainment labs, innovative host monitoring assays, and small animal models through core service center units on a cost recovery basis. However, after fourteen years of use, some of the Duke RBL facilities, systems, and critical core research equipment have become obsolete or are in need of repair, replacement, or modernization.

We have identified six critical deficiencies of the facility's existing physical infrastructure that limit biosafety, security, or threaten the provision of services it offers and research-related activities it supports. To address these deficiencies, we have established three specific aims:

1) Modernize Building Air Control Systems: Upgrade obsolete BSL3/ABSL3 building control systems, pressure monitors, and software. Rebalance, test, validate, and re-certify all impacted BSL3/ABSL3 space.

2) Modernize Biosafety and Security Systems: Replace aged/damaged biosafety cabinets in BSL2/BSL3/ABSL3 laboratories. Repair and upgrade components of the BSL3 chemical effluent treatment system. Replace damaged or obsolete closed circuit security cameras, cabling, and integration with building security control systems.

3) Modernize Research Resources: Replace the obsolete high-containment cell sorter and custom bioprotect hood in the BSL3 cell sorting core facility. Upgrade the blower control modules on the Allentown biocontainment mouse cage racks in the ABSL3.

These aims/goals will be accomplished by a highly integrated project management team with solid institutional support and trusted contractors/vendors that were part of the original design and construction of the facility and/or have been part of the continuous maintenance, repair, and certification of the facility for the past 14 years.

Duke University

TO ASSIST PUBLIC AND PRIVATE NONPROFIT INSTITUTIONS AND INDIVIDUALS TO ESTABLISH, EXPAND AND IMPROVE BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH AND RESEARCH TRAINING IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES AND RELATED AREAS, TO CONDUCT DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH, TO PRODUCE AND TEST RESEARCH MATERIALS. TO ASSIST PUBLIC, PRIVATE AND COMMERCIAL INSTITUTIONS TO CONDUCT DEVELOPMENTAL RESEARCH, TO PRODUCE AND TEST RESEARCH MATERIALS, TO PROVIDE RESEARCH SERVICES AS REQUIRED BY THE AGENCY FOR PROGRAMS IN INFECTIOUS DISEASES, AND CONTROLLING DISEASE CAUSED BY INFECTIOUS OR PARASITIC AGENTS, ALLERGIC AND IMMUNOLOGIC DISEASES AND RELATED AREAS. PROJECTS RANGE FROM STUDIES OF MICROBIAL PHYSIOLOGY AND ANTIGENIC STRUCTURE TO COLLABORATIVE TRIALS OF EXPERIMENTAL DRUGS AND VACCINES, MECHANISMS OF RESISTANCE TO ANTIBIOTICS AS WELL AS RESEARCH DEALING WITH EPIDEMIOLOGICAL OBSERVATIONS IN HOSPITALIZED PATIENTS OR COMMUNITY POPULATIONS AND PROGRESS IN ALLERGIC AND IMMUNOLOGIC DISEASES. BECAUSE OF THIS DUAL FOCUS, THE PROGRAM ENCOMPASSES BOTH BASIC RESEARCH AND CLINICAL RESEARCH. SMALL BUSINESS INNOVATION RESEARCH (SBIR) PROGRAM EXPANDS AND IMPROVES PRIVATE SECTOR PARTICIPATION IN BIOMEDICAL RESEARCH. THE SBIR PROGRAM INTENDS TO INCREASE AND FACILITATE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, TO INCREASE SMALL BUSINESS PARTICIPATION IN FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. THE SMALL BUSINESS TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER (STTR) PROGRAM STIMULATES AND FOSTERS SCIENTIFIC AND TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION THROUGH COOPERATIVE RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT CARRIED OUT BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO FOSTER TECHNOLOGY TRANSFER BETWEEN SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND RESEARCH INSTITUTIONS, TO INCREASE PRIVATE SECTOR COMMERCIALIZATION OF INNOVATIONS DERIVED FROM FEDERAL RESEARCH AND DEVELOPMENT, AND TO FOSTER AND ENCOURAGE PARTICIPATION OF SOCIALLY AND ECONOMICALLY DISADVANTAGED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS AND WOMEN-OWNED SMALL BUSINESS CONCERNS IN TECHNOLOGICAL INNOVATION. RESEARCH CAREER DEVELOPMENT AWARDS SUPPORT THE DEVELOPMENT OF SCIENTISTS DURING THE FORMATIVE STAGES OF THEIR CAREERS. INDIVIDUAL NATIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE AWARDS (NRSAS) ARE MADE DIRECTLY TO APPROVE APPLICANTS FOR RESEARCH TRAINING IN SPECIFIED BIOMEDICAL SHORTAGE AREAS. IN ADDITION, INSTITUTIONAL NATIONAL RESEARCH SERVICE AWARDS ARE MADE TO ENABLE INSTITUTIONS TO SELECT AND MAKE AWARDS TO INDIVIDUALS TO RECEIVE TRAINING UNDER THE AEGIS OF THEIR INSTITUTIONAL PROGRAM.

93.855 - Allergy and Infectious Diseases Research

National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) [HHS - NIH]

North Carolina United States

State-Wide

Limited Competition: Facility and Building System Upgrades Support for the Regional Biocontainment Laboratories (G20 Clinical Trial Not Allowed) (RFA-AI-21-022)

Amendment Since initial award the End Date has been extended from 02/28/23 to 02/28/25 and the total obligations have increased 96% from $3,329,854 to $6,525,293.