BU Medical Center Receives Federal Decision to Fund Construction of Biosafety Lab
Boston University Medical Center
For Immediate Release – February 2, 2006
For information contact: EllenBerlin (617) 638-8491
Boston—Boston University Medical Center (BUMC) today received a decision from the federal government to fund construction of a Biosafety laboratory on its campus in Boston. The laboratory will be called the National Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratories and will work to develop diagnostic tests, drugs, vaccines and treatments for emerging infectious diseases.
This Record of Decision was issued by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) after an extensive process that involved public meetings and reviews by federal agencies.
BUMC already received state and local approvals following extensive reviews by many agencies and BUMC participation in over two hundred community meetings.
In September 2003, BUMC was awarded $128 million by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of NIH, to build a laboratory that would study infectious diseases whether they emerge naturally or are introduced through bioterrorism.
The laboratory will be part of a national network of secure facilities that study infectious diseases and will include Biosafety Level 2, 3 and 4 laboratories, where microorganisms such as West Nile Virus, Equine Encephalitis Viruses, and Ebola Virus can be studied under the most stringent safety and security requirements.
“We are pleased and honored that BUMC has received this decision from the federal government and that the lengthy and rigorous process is completed,” said Dr. Mark Klempner, Principal Investigator for the new laboratory and Associate Provost for Research at BUMC. “We are proud to now be part of the national network of dedicated scientists and researchers who will use this state-of-the-art facility to safely find treatments and cures for some of the most dangerous infectious diseases that threaten Boston, the nation and the world.” The laboratory will be located at BioSquare, a biomedical research park at BUMC. The lead architectural firm designing the facility is CUH2A.
Construction on the facility will begin in early February and is expected to be completed in 30 months.
The laboratory will contain 194,000 gross square feet of space, which will contain BSL 2, 3 and 4 laboratories. Flexible core facilities will be devoted to a comprehensive array of research methodologies that contribute to the entire product development continuum from basic science to clinical research. The building will house various sophisticated facilities such as high-powered microscopes and Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) machines.
The facility is incorporating state-of-the-art safety and security systems that will meet or exceed stringent federal standards in design, construction and operation to protect the researchers and the community. The lab will have its own air supply, power supply, safety cabinets, filtration system and waste disposal systems and each of these systems will have a redundant system. The building will be self contained and will be one of the most safely designed structures of its kind in the world.
The biosafety laboratory at BUMC will create a positive economic benefit for the city and its residents. In terms of job creation, it is estimated that 1,300 construction jobs and 660 permanent jobs – jobs at all levels, including scientists, laboratory technicians, and security and other support services will be created. The laboratory will have an estimated $2.9 billion impact in the city of Boston over the next twenty years as a result of construction, research and operational costs.
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