George Mason University will break ground today on a high-level biomedical research lab aimed at thrusting the university into the forefront of the nation’s counter-bioterrorism efforts.
The lab, which is being built adjacent to George Mason’s Prince William campus in Manassas, will house laboratories that are designated Biosafety Level 3, allowing scientists to work with virulent strains of infectious diseases such as avian flu and SARS.
The lab received a $25 million grant from the National Institutes of Health in 2005 as part of a federal effort to establish 13 such facilities throughout the nation to aid in public health efforts in the event of a bioterrorism emergency.
“It’scertainly no secret that Washington, D.C., has been demonstrated to be a target of terrorism,” said Charles L. Bailey, executive director of the university’s National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases. “At least in my mind, it’s reassuring that we have a laboratory in the facility that can help respond to the threat.”
Lab researchers will focus on developing vaccines and early diagnosis tests for infectious diseases and will also work with biological threat agents anthrax and tularemia, according to Bailey.
A temporary, prefabricated Level 3 lab will arrive at the site in seven to eight months, Bailey said, and must undergo a commissioning process to certify its intensive safeguard features are intact before the scientists can work with infectious diseases. The lab must also gain government approval, certifying its training methods and operating procedures meet strict federal standards.
The temporary lab will be folded into the main facility once construction is finished, which is expected to be in about two years.
Level 3 labs are expressly designed to protect scientists, the public and the environment from exposure to biological agents, though the Centers for Disease Control recommends they still be located away from high-traffic areas. Bailey said the lab’s location on a college campus should not be cause for concern.
“The main danger will be to the individuals working with the agents in the labs,” he said. “But there are extensive safety procedures that will be put in place — there are standard operating procedures that will be written for every single procedure that’s done in the facility.”
