CDC's Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory Wins Laboratory of the Year Special Mention Award.

ATLANTA -- CUH2A is proud to announce the new Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory for the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has been awarded Laboratory of the Year Special Mention by R&D Magazine. Founded in 1962, CUH2A is an international architecture, engineering and planning firm dedicated to the design of research and diagnostic facilities for the advancement of science. Headquartered in Princeton, New Jersey, CUH2A has offices in Atlanta, Chicago, San Francisco, Washington DC and London.

"CDC's Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory establishes new criteria and standards of excellence for BSL-4 - no question about that. That was unanimous. Nothing like this has ever been done before." - Tim Studt, R&D Magazine

The Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory expands mission critical space, provides greatly improved working conditions and collocates formerly disparate groups into one cohesive unit, creating a foundation for scientific collaboration and inspiration. Scientists working in this new facility support the CDC's Bioterrorism Program, the Division of Viral and Rickettsial Diseases, the Special Pathogens Branch, the Division of AIDS, STD and TB Laboratory Research, and the Division of Bacterial and Mycotic Diseases.

In designing the CDC's new Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory located on their Roybal Campus in Atlanta, Georgia, the question became how to provide ultimate safety and security while still creating an inspiring work environment. How to take buildings designed as blast resistant bunkers and humanize them? How to induce collaboration in the midst of the isolation required by containment? The strict containment and security requirements seemed at first to be in conflict with the other equally important aspiration that the facility be open, airy, light-filled and provide a collaborative work environment. By thoroughly understanding the science, potential security risks and safety hazards, the design team was able to methodically dissect each of these issues to design innovative layered security and safety solutions leading to the creation of a state-of-the-art facility; a facility that restates the paradigm for containment facilities of the future.

"Together with CDC, we were able to deliver an exceptional laboratory and respond to the need for expansion in the nation's capacity of high-containment laboratories to respond to public health threats," Jon Crane, CUH2A Principal, Project Director and BioContainment Specialist.

The new facility includes Bio-Safety Level (BSL)-4 laboratories capable of handling life-threatening and exotic pathogens for which there are no treatments or vaccines. Working with these pathogens requires an intense focus on safety. The facility is the first to provide multiple combinations of BSL-3 and BSL-4 modules and shared specimen support space. A first for the Centers for Disease Control, the Emerging Infectious Diseases Laboratory also includes BSL-3(Ag) animal holding designed to meet USDA standards for handling high-consequence agents that pose a severe risk to our agricultural economy. According to Tim Studt from R&D Magazine, "A new standard has been set for what containment labs are and will be for the future."

The new facility, the largest in the world dedicated to human health, is open and bright, extremely flexible and contains the highest-level bio-safety laboratories in the world. In CDC's own words, it is "the most advanced laboratory facility in the world."