14 Aug 2007

Media Contact: Jennifer Halpin, jhalpin1@gmu.edu or 703-993-9395

MANASSAS, Va.– The planning and design of the George Mason University Biomedical Research Laboratory is progressing smoothly, and construction should begin in early 2008. The BRL will contain Biosafety Level 3 laboratories where Mason researchers will develop and test the next generation of vaccines, treatments and diagnostics to protect citizens against biological terrorism and infectious diseases. Research will focus on newly emerging diseases such as SARS, avian influenza and West Nile virus, as well as anthrax, plague and tularemia. The new BRL will be one of 13 regional biocontainment laboratories to be built nationwide with funds from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, part of the National Institutes of Health. To construct the laboratory, Mason was awarded a $25 million grant in 2005. The university is providing an estimated $15.3 million in matching funds. Under then-Virginia Gov. Mark R. Warner, the commonwealth committed $2.5 million for land acquisition. “The work Mason researchers will be conducting in the BRL is important not just to our region, but to the country as a whole,” said Charles Bailey, executive director of Mason’s National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases. “As long as the United States is threatened by terrorists who might use infectious agents against our population, there will be a need to develop medical countermeasures, such as vaccines and therapeutics, to prevent and treat these infectious, highly lethal diseases."

RMJM Hillier is the design architect for the 52,000-square-foot structure to be built adjacent to Mason’s Prince William Campus in Manassas. Facilities Dynamics Engineering has been selected as the commissioning agent to verify the features and specifications of the building. The facility will be administered by the NCBID. The BRL design is in accordance with NIH, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and U.S. Department of Agriculture design guidelines and requirements. To ensure safety, the building will have multiple layers of containment -- a “box-within-a-box-within-a-box” design -- and will have redundancy in electrical, mechanical and other functional systems. All work with BSL-3 agents will be performed in primary containment devices called biosafety cabinets. All biosafety cabinets will be located within laboratory modules that also provide BSL-3 protection and will be completely contained within the facility. Biological agents will be used at the minimum concentration and quantity required for the work to be performed and will be handled with strict adherence to safety and security procedures. All materials will be decontaminated according to industry standards and the effectiveness of decontamination procedures will be verified to ensure no harmful materials are released from the facility. Exhaust air leaving the BSL-3 laboratories will pass through multiple HEPA filters to prevent the release of biological agents and other particulates into the atmosphere.

The BRL is expected to be completed in the summer of 2009. In the meantime, a modular research laboratory is in the process of being commissioned exclusively with university funds to allow research to begin prior to the BRL’s opening. This 1,000-square-foot modular laboratory will eventually become part of the permanent BRL. The facility will allow the Mason research team to begin the process of getting government approval for testing and evaluating biological agents, providing a seamless transition to the BRL as soon as construction is complete and the building is commissioned. The modular facility, which should be completed in early 2008, is being designed in compliance with the regulatory and accreditation requirements of the CDC, USDA, NIH and the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care International. The BRL and modular facility will be constructed with the safety and security of the surrounding community as the highest priority. BSL-3 laboratories are explicitly designed to protect the research scientists, the public and the environment from the biological agents used in research.