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A new high-tech facility at the University of Georgia will help investigators conduct basic and applied research on vaccines, diagnostic tests and treatments for diseases that infect animals as well as humans.
The Animal Health Research Center (AHRC), located on the corner of East Campus Road and Carlton Street on the UGA Campus, is a three-story, 75,000-square-foot facility where researchers will conduct basic and applied research on vaccines, diagnostic tests and treatments for diseases that infect animals as well as humans.
“This research center will be part of a national effort to defend against naturally emerging diseases, as well as bioterrorism attacks,” said Sheila Allen, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine. “Because we will have facilities for investigating diseases affecting both animals and people, we can tackle a wide variety of illnesses, including most of the viral diseases—such as avian influenza, SARS and West Nile virus — that are major public health threats in this country and the rest of the world. We can also investigate diseases that are important to food safety and consequently to our economy.”
The research center will also serve as an economic development stimulus to the state, attracting top investigators, students and grants while strengthening ties with state, federal and private research institutions.
The AHRC has office space and dedicated lab space for 50 investigators and staff, and researchers throughout campus as well as federal and industry scientists will have access to the center’s labs. The labs have been specifically designed to protect researchers working within the building as well as the community at large.
AHRC facility program manager Michael Mispagel said that what makes the facility unique is that it’s the only university operated facility in the nation with labs that meet federal biosafety level 3 agricultural (BSL-3-Ag) requirements. BSL-3-Ag labs allow researchers to safely work with agents such as avian influenza.
“Because it allows us to work in a safe environment on disease organisms that we would not normally be able to work with, the Animal Health Research Center will help us attract research from industry and the government as well as from other academic research institutions,” Mispagel said.
The University community is invited to an open house for the Animal Health Research Center from 4 to 6 p.m. on June 28.
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The Animal Health Research Center is designed to protect researchers working within the building as well as the community at large.
