Animal Research

The University of Arkansas opened the $2.4 million Leland Tollett Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory in Fayetteville on June 12, 2008. Housing disease testing for poultry, cows, horses, and other animals, the facility is operated jointly by the University’s Division of Agriculture and The Poultry Federation. The 7,365-sf diagnostic laboratory features a drive-through drop off window for poultry samples and a hydraulic lift for large animal transfer.

Atlantic Veterinary College of the University of Prince Edward Island is partnering with the province of New Brunswick to construct a $23.6 million aquatic animal health science laboratory in St. George, NB, Canada. Meeting national standards for fish health testing, the facility will support aquaculture research for the regions’ fishery industries. Housing necropsy, bacteriology, virology, and sample processing facilities, the 5,700-sf laboratory will be built by Castle Rock Construction Services of Saint John.

North Dakota State University broke ground on two agricultural research facilities in Fargo, N.D., on May 30, 2008. The $12 million Greenhouse Facility will house research in plant breeding, pathology, and nutrition to create higher yield crop varieties. The Beef Cattle Research Center will support research in animal nutrition and physiology, feed efficiencies, genetics, and food safety. The first phase of construction for the Beef Cattle Research Center will cost $1.6 million. Completion is expected in October of 2008. 

Florida A&M University (FAMU) broke ground on its $1.2 million Animal Healthcare Facility in Quincy in May of 2008. Housing research facilities, a clinical lab, veterinary training facilities, and a technology center, the building will open in April of 2009.

Cornell University broke ground on the $80 million New York State Animal Health Diagnostic Center in Ithaca in May of 2008. Slated for completion in late summer of 2010, the 126,000-gsf facility will house over 200 researchers, consolidating operations currently dispersed in 12 locations. The three-story building will house BSL-2 and BSL-3 labs, diagnostic labs, wet labs, and a state-of-the-art necropsy facility able to accommodate large animals.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison broke ground on the $150 million Wisconsin Institutes for Discovery in Madison on May 2, 2008. The 300,000-sf interdisciplinary biomedical research building will be comprised of four stories above ground and one below, and will house research offices, an atrium, and flexible dry, wet, and combination laboratories. The collaborative public-private research project will accommodate biotechnology, health science, nanotechnology, engineering, and stem cell research.

The University of Central Florida (UCF) is constructing the Burnett Biomedical Sciences building in Orlando. Slated for completion by fall of 2009, the five-story facility will will house the merged UCF College of Medicine and the Burnett School of Biomedical Sciences. The project team includes Ellenzweig Associates of Cambridge as design architect and HuntonBrady Architects of Orlando as architect of record.

Covance celebrated the completion of its 288,000-sf animal testing laboratory in Chandler, Ariz., on May 1, 2008. The $100 million facility broke ground in June of 2007 and includes animal housing, five laboratories, a 100-seat auditorium, an animal care area, and a cafeteria. Operations will begin in the three-story building in early 2009.

The University of Tennessee's College of Veterinary Medicine opened the expanded John and Ann Tickle Small Animal Hospital in Knoxville in April of 2008. Construction began in February of 2007 on the $10 million, 32,000-sf addition. The project includes clinical space, small animal infectious disease isolators, a $1.5 million linear accelerator for radiation oncology, medical oncology, and avian and zoological medicine. A canine rehabilitation area includes a heated therapy pool and two new underwater treadmills.

Alltech Inc., a biotechnology company that produces health supplements for the animal feed industry, opened the 20,000-sf Center for Animal Nutrigenomics and Applied Animal Nutrition in Nicholasville, Ky., in April of 2008. The facility will accommodate research into the effect of nutrition on gene expression and will include faculty and staff from the University of Kentucky’s College of Agriculture. The project represents an expansion of Alltech’s existing research facility.

Esco now offers a complete line of animal research products with the launch of the VIVA Bedding Disposal Workstation. Esco’s range of VIVA animal research products are designed for lab animal research applications involving rodents. Cage cleaning and bedding disposal procedures are now simpler, safer and more productive with the VIVA Bedding Disposal Workstation. Specifically designed for the animal research laboratory, the mobile workstation protects personnel and the lab environment from exposure to allergens and unpleasant odors.

The $60 million HudsonAlpha Institute for Biotechnology will officially open in the Cummings Research Park in Huntsville, Ala. in April of 2008. Housing 12 for-profit companies and 900 employees, the facility will support Alabama’s high tech, biotech, and clinical research industries to address a variety of diseases including cancer, cardiovascular disease, and neurodegenerative diseases. Designed by Cooper Carry, the 270,000-sf project is the cornerstone of the 150-acre CRP Biotech Campus.

The Jackson Laboratory (JAX® Mice & Services) is engaged in an expansion of its mouse production facility in West Sacramento, Calif. The project will increase the size of the building from 40,000-sf to 200,000-sf. The Jackson Laboratory transports approximately 50,000 mice per week from its Bar Harbor, Maine headquarters and between 5,000 and 8,000 mice per week from West Sacramento.

The University of Texas at Austin is constructing a 6,000-sf vivarium connecting to the Neural and Molecular Biology Building. The $15 million facility is slated for completion in 2008. The University is also developing the $125 million, 256,000-sf Experimental Science Building housing laboratory, classroom, and office space to support research in computational biology, environmental sciences, pharmacy, and molecular and cellular biology. Completion is expected by 2010.

Texas A&M University broke ground in April of 2008 on the $47.8 million Texas Institute of Preclinical Studies (TIPS) in the A&M Research Park in Bryan. The 112,000-sf biomedical and animal research facility will support development and commercialization of therapies for diseases including cancer, heart disease, and Alzheimer’s.