Four public informational workshops regarding the campus’s proposed Na-tional Biocontainment Laboratory have been scheduled for April 9 and 10. Meanwhile, campus leaders are preparing to respond to recent inquiries from regional officials who have invited UC Davis to consider new locations for the proposed laboratory.
“Through the upcoming public workshops, we will continue with our commitment to providing the regional community with information and discussion opportunities on the National Biocon-tainment Laboratory proposal,” said Provost Virginia Hinshaw.
The workshops will be held at UC Davis each day from 4-6 p.m. and from 7-9 p.m. Locations for workshops will be announced. Each workshop will feature panel presentations on matters related to research, safety and security and an opportunity for the public to ask questions of the panel members.
In addition to planning for the workshops, the campus is also exploring next steps in light of inquiries from three local governments, requesting that the campus consider alternative sites for theproposed biocontainment laboratory.
In its Feb. 10 proposal to the National Institutes of Health, UC Davis identified a 31-acre on-campus site as the optimal location for the laboratory. That parcel is located on the southwest corner of the core campus, adjacent to the schools of medicine and veterinary medicine on land currently occupied by the Equestrian Center.
The proposed National Biocon-tainment Laboratory would be committed to meeting the crucial need for infectious disease research and public health diagnostic services in the Western United States.
The core of the proposed facility is a Biosafety Level 3-4 laboratory, devoted to research aimed at developing vaccines, diagnostic methods, and treatments for some of the most serious infectious diseases.
The facility also would be equipped with state-of-the art technology for diagnosing infectious diseases such as hantavirus, Lyme disease, plague, smallpox, various strains of influenza, anthrax, foot and mouth disease, and West Nile virus.