Mission

The High-Containment Facility provides a state-of-the-art research facility for faculty and clinicians who are pursuing pathogen-related research. Complete with a full animal husbandry area, the high-containment facility can house up to 1,800 rodents while meeting the requirements for investigating pathogens necessitating a bio-safety level 3 unit.

Resources

• Bio-safety level 3 laboratories for animal procedures (ABSL3) and holding
• Two animal holdings: one area with a 600-mice capacity and the other with a 1,200-mice capacity; both areas include class II biosafety hoods
• Completely individually isolated animal cages, which allow for multiple species to cohabitate a small area
• Capability to work with multiple animal models, including mice, rats, guinea pigs and ferrets
• Glasco Aerosol exposure chamber, specific for infectious agents; ability to handle bacterial and viral pathogens
• Self-contained BSL3 laboratory capable of culturing and analyzing pathogenic organisms
• Equipment includes: CO2 incubator, -80°C freezer, -20°C freezer, 4°C refrigerator, cell culture hood, ultracentrifuge, microcentrifuge, microscope – upright with camera, microscope – inverted with camera, real-time qPCR machine, autoclave and miscellaneous small equipment

Areas of Focus

Vaccine development:

• Mycobacterium tuberculosis
• Bordetella pertussis
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa

Pathogen-related projects:

• Rickettsia rickettsii (Tickborne rickettsial diseases)
• Burkholderia spp.
• Alphaviruses

External Partnership Opportunities

The High-Containment Facility is interested in working with industry partners through sponsored research or contract research projects. With a wide variety of expertise and competitive pricing, the WVU High-Containment Facility is an excellent partner in pathogen-related research.