Following ten years of construction and $63 million in funding, the College of Veterinary Medicine’s Animal Health Research Center has opened its doors.

“It’s been a long time coming, and we are very excited about this new beginning,” said Shelia Allen, dean of the College of Veterinary Medicine, at a media showcase at the AHRC June 15.

The building was set to open in 1999, but due to legal issues surrounding its failure to adhere to federal safety standards, the University was forced to push the completion date back and add an additional $43 million in renovations, said Harry Dickerson, dean for research.

“The building was constructed in a manner that didn’t function properly,” Dickerson said.

At the new research facility, investigators will study the treatment and prevention of emerging infectious diseases of zoonotic origin – those that begin with animals and spread to humans.

Ralph Tripp, a University professor and Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, will head the team of investigators operating in the BSL-3 labs, which contain agents with potential to spread disease through inhalation. Tripp and his colleagues will focus on the mechanisms of immunity and disease pathogenesis associated with respiratory virus infections, namely influenza. Additional faculty and even graduate students eventually will have the opportunity to work in the BSL-3 labs after they have undergone extensive training.

The AHRC is one of only three facilities “on this side of the world” that meet federal biosafety level-3 agricultural (BSL-3-Ag) requirements, Tripp said. Additionally, it’s the only academically operated institution that meets the requirements.

The AHRC boasts biocontainment areas appropriate for the study of agents requiring BSL-1 through BSL-3. BSL-2 labs, like those found in the Coverdell Center and many classrooms, contain infectious agents to which most adults have developed immunity, such as measles. Containment areas meeting BSL-3 criteria hold infectious agents that may cause serious disease if inhaled.

A labyrinth of corridors and airtight rooms, the building seems more appropriate for a sci-fi movie than the University’s campus.

Security and safety are paramount. Just to enter the hall of the BSL-2 labs, investigators must go through a finger scanner or keypad.

Safety measures reach their pinnacle in the BSL-3 containment areas. Leaving the “clean corridor,” investigators must walk through a shower as well as a viewing room prior to entering the area itself. All the while, a camera mounted unobtrusively in a corner monitors investigators’ actions.

Inside the containment area, special attention is paid to air circulation since agents are airborne. Air is allowed to enter only from the clean corridor into the dirty containment area, not vice versa. Furthermore, air is cleaned by double filters.

“Everything moves from clean toward dirty, including air, water, personnel and animals,” Michael Mispagel, AHRC’s quality assurance manager, said.

There also are many “redundancies” built into AHRC’s systems ensuring safety, though any single element may malfunction, Mispagel added.

In addition to the facility itself, the investigators must be carefully trained in “how (they) enter, how (they) leave and how (they) check to make sure that things work properly,” Dickerson said. “Initially, only the six investigators will have access to the BSL-3 containment centers,” he said.

With such high-tech amenities, the research in the new building could lead not only to treatments for public diseases such as influenza, but also to increased funding for the University.

The new facility “has the potential to draw millions of research dollars, as well as partnerships with the CDC and USDA,” Allen said.