Media Advisory – Rsvp Required: Foothills Biocontainment Lab Groundbreaking

Colorado State University breaks ground on $22 million biocontainment laboratory: Media RSVP by 4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29 required for security clearance.

WHAT:          Colorado State University will break ground on a $22 million laboratory at the university’s Foothills Research Campus. Media will have the opportunity to tour existing facilities and view displays about current research at the campus.

U.S. Sen. Wayne Allard, university President Larry Edward Penley, Provost and Senior Vice President Tony Frank, and Dr. Alicia Dombroski, program officer with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease, will share remarks about the infectious disease research the university will conduct in the new facility and the importance of the university’s global health research complex currently under development at the foothills campus.

WHEN/     

WHERE:      The ceremony begins at 10 a.m. on Wednesday, Nov. 30 at the university’s Foothills Research Campus. Because of security and parking restrictions, it is recommended that reporters arrive at the equine center check in by 9:30 a.m.

SECURITY

AND PARKING:

          RSVP IS REQUIRED for media attending due to security restrictions. RSVP via email to dellrae.moellenberg@colostate.edu by 4 p.m. Tuesday, Nov. 29. Please include the name of all media staff attending and the media outlet represented.

Due to limited parking and security measures, MEDIA MUST CHECK IN at the university’s B. W. Pickett Equine Center on Overland Trail and Rampart Road. Print media will be provided with transportation to the ceremony; television trucks must check in for directions for special parking arrangements near the groundbreaking. All media MUST SHOW either media credentials or photo identification at registration at the Pickett Center before transportation to the event.

DETAILS:          The level-three security regional biocontainment laboratory is a 33,850-square-foot facility that will expand the university’s ability to conduct research to prevent, diagnose and cure infectious diseases that impact the health of people around the world as well as to find ways to prevent and counter acts of bioterrorism. The advanced research capacity and facilities for Colorado State scientists and other qualified investigators from government, academia and industry will help to develop new vaccines, therapies and diagnostics for pathogens identified as priorities by the National Institute of Health.

The facility is funded by a $22 million grant, awarded in 2003, from the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases and furthers the international leadership in infectious disease research into diseases including West Nile virus, antibiotic resistant tuberculosis, yellow fever, malaria, dengue, hantavirus and other infectious health threats.

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