Research Support

Our operations team has expertise in biocontainment facilities. The group provides essential preventative maintenance and repair services to ensure a safe environment. Researchers have access to common spaces, including autoclave rooms, change vestibules, corridors, and other research support spaces. The BRI building management system controls and monitors all critical building equipment, and backup equipment systems ensure a safe work environment. The BRI provides utilities and phone service. For more information, contact the director of facility management.

Our project support staff team provides a range of expertise and assistance. Researchers at the BRI have access to space preparation and decontamination services, laboratory support and coordination — laundry, basic laboratory clothing for biocontainment areas, waste management, equipment inventory management, shower supplies, stock room operations, personal protective equipment and other core laboratory equipment. For more information, contact the director of facility management.

The biosafety team trains researchers and students to work safely within biocontainment. The group performs project-specific risk assessments and designs protocols to ensure the biosafety and biosecurity of projects and personnel. Responsible for ensuring all applicable safety regulations and guidelines, this team works with researchers to minimize risk and advocate laboratory safety. The group performs a variety of drills and training sessions and actively maintains standards required by the federal select agent program, enabling researchers to work with organisms not authorized in other facilities, and provides Association for Assessment and Acreditation of Laboratory Animal Care animal care and use coordination and supervision. For more information, contact the biosafety officer.

Information technology staff members at the BRI manage our secure data network and provide support. Researchers have access to reasonable individual space on network drives for data storage and retrieval, internet and network connection from biocontainment spaces, and a secure data network with automated backup. For more information, contact the information technology officer.

The BRI provides physical security program administration and management, including controlled access, general background investigations, and camera systems. For more information, contact the facility security manager.