Source: Jim Stack, 785-532-1333, jstack@k-state.edu
http://www.k-state.edu/media/mediaguide/bios/stackbio.html
News release prepared by: Katie Mayes, 785-532-6415, kmayes@k-state.edu
Tuesday, Feb. 5, 2008
BIOCONTAINMENT LAB PROFESSIONALS WILL COME TO K-STATE'S BRI TO LEARN THE LATEST TECHNIQUES
MANHATTAN -- Those in charge of making sure the Midwest's biocontainment labs are run safely will soon be trained at Kansas State University's BRI -- Biosecurity Research Institute.
The National Biosafety and Biocontainment Training Program's operations and maintenance curriculum will be March 3-7 at the BRI. This training is for the Midwest Regional Center for Excellence, which is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The Midwest Regional Center for Excellence is a research and educational consortium of institutions from Iowa, Kansas, Missouri, Nebraska and Cleveland, Ohio. This is the first time this training will be offered at the BRI.
"From the outset, the BRI was designed to accommodate the latest in research and training. The integrated training suite will create a more hands-on learning experience," said BRI director Jim Stack. "The fact that this training is coming to K-State reinforces the university's critical role when it comes to the safety and security of our nation's food supply."
The BRI is the only research and training facility in the U.S. that can accommodate veterinary medicine, plant pathology, food safety, entomology and molecular biology research under one roof. This allows for more comprehensive research on the threats to the nation's food supply.
"This program is just the beginning of K-State's role in keeping biocontainment lab professionals primed on the latest practices," Stack said.
The operations and maintenance session is part of the National Biosafety and Biocontainment Training Program, which is administered by the Frontline Healthcare Workers Safety Foundation. As many as 25 operations, maintenance and biosafety professionals are expected to be trained in this session. Future training and education events are planned.
The BRI is roughly 113,000 square feet, with about a third of that dedicated to research and about 10,000 square feet for training and education. Administrative space takes up another 10,000 square feet, with the remaining area dedicated to air handling, waste-handling and electrical systems, security and other infrastructure critical to running a safe and secure biocontainment laboratory.