July 21, 2005
University of Washington unlikely to receive grant for biocontainment lab, president says
The University of Washington, faced with a July 23 deadline for securing $35 million in matching funds to construct a Regional Biocontainment Laboratory, has been unable to secure those funds, President Mark A. Emmert announced to the UW Board of Regents today.
This means that the $25 million grant that the UW had sought from the National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) will likely not be awarded and the proposed laboratory will not be built, Emmert said.
“The University applied for this grant because of our remarkable strengths in infectious disease research,” Emmert said. “Last year, we were awarded a $50 million grant by NIAID to establish a Regional Center of Excellence in infectious disease research. Our faculty are among the best in the nation in this field, and building a facility to house this, and possibly additional research, would clearly enhance our capabilities in this area.
“A number of important issues were raised over the safety, security and location of such a facility, and we set about to address these issues, and to assure ourselves that, if the project did move forward, we would be able to build a safe and secure facility in the appropriate location.”
Efforts by the University administration to secure the additional $35 million required to build the facility ultimately proved unsuccessful.
“A great deal of excellent work by many people at the University has gone into this proposal,” Emmert said, “and we are grateful for their work. This experience points up the critical need for high quality research space at the University and the paucity of resources available to meet the needs.”
