LCME Facilities Sub Committee

NYU School of Medicine Animal Facilities

There are currently four research animal facilities at NYU School of medicine: Two located within the Medical Center complex at 550 1st Ave., Skirball (16,834 nsf) and Berg (9,920 nsf); and two departmental facilities, Parasitology (2,250 nsf) which is located in the Old Public Health Building at 27 St. and lst Ave, and EnvirorunenW Medicine (5,823 nsf) which is located at Sterling Forest, Tuxedo, NY, approximately one hour drive from the Medical Center. The Skirball and Berg animal facilities, which house more than 95% of the animals at NYU, are managed as a central resource by the Division of Laboratory Animal Resources (DLAR). DLAR currently has a staff of 30. The two deparunental facilities are managed by the Departments with oversight from the IACUC and DLAR veterinarians. In addition, there are 7 one-room animal facilities scattered around the medical center, all of which house fish or frogs, with the exception of one that houses mice. The individual investigators are responsible for providing animal care in these facilities.

Following are significant changes and events since the last LCME site visit in 1993.

• The Skirball animal facility was put into service in April 1995 as a transgeniclknockout rodent banier. To date, approximately $1.3 M has been expended for caging and animal care equipment for the facility, including individually ventilated microisolation caging and cage changing cabinets. An additional $170,000 of caging equipment is currently on order. The facility is now being used at approximately 70% of capacity. It is anticipated that it will be used at full capacity within two to three years. This will require an additional expenditure of about $400,000 for cages and animal care equipment.
• The Berg animal room floors and walls have all been refurbished since the last LCME site visit. A new cage and rack washer was installed and the cage sanitation area floor was refurbished in 1997. The cost of the cage washer and new floor covering was approximately $ 100,000. In 1999, the animal husbandry program for mice housed in Berg was changed from conventional cages to a static microisolation caging system at a cost of approximately $240,000 for cages, cage racks, and mobile clean benches cage changing cabinets. The animal census in this facility runs near full capacity.
• The Neurosurgery animal facility that was located in the Bellevue Hospital at 27th and Ist Ave. was closed in 1997.
• The Laboratory for Experimental Medicine and Surgery that was located at Sterling Forest, NY was closed December 31, 1997.
• In February 1998 Full Accreditation by the Association for the Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) International was granted following a September 1997 site visit.

Future plans for animal facilities include the development of a BSL-3 containment facility within existing animal facility space in Berg, to accommodate the growing number of animal protocols that involve BSL-2 and BSL-3 agents. The facility would also be used for quarantining rodents of questionable health status or known to be harboring adventitious pathogens. Expansion of animal facility space at an as yet undetermined site is also a priority.