SPECIFIC AIMSResearch programs at the University of Arizona (UA) focus on the goals of the DHHS Healthy People 2020initiative: attain high-quality longer lives free of preventable disease disability injury and premature death;eliminate disparities and improve the health of all groups; create social and physical environments thatpromote good health for all; and promote quality of life healthy development and healthy behaviors across alllife stages. Specific areas of UA research excellence include infectious disease immunology cancer heartdisease arthritis diabetes respiratory disease memory and aging pain alleviation genomics and biomedicalengineering. Animal research is vital to these and other research programs that are growing at the UA.Animal usage has increased 30% over the past three years and research funding and animal use is projectedto at least double between now and 2020. Genetically engineered mice (GEM) and rodents used in researchconducted at Animal Biosafety Level 2 (ABSL-2) are responsible for recent expansion and will account for thevast majority of future expansion. Autoclaves are heavily relied upon to sterilize caging for GEM and todecontaminate ABSL-2 rodent caging. Autoclave reliability is a major programmatic concern and increasedautoclave capacity is needed to accommodate the rapidly expanding animal inventory at the UA. This projectdirectly addresses these needs through replacement addition or upgrades of autoclaves in the three largestcentralized animal facilities at the UA affecting a total of 66237 nasf space and impacting 106 PHS-fundedgrants awarded to 78 Principal Investigators with $46.8 million total annual funding. The project will vastlyimprove reliability increase capacity and provide redundancy of autoclaves in the facilities that maintain largerodent populations in sterile and ABSL-2 caging. The project will also significantly improve energy efficiencyand preserve natural resources particularly water. Improved animal facilities will aid in recruitment of researchfaculty graduate students and staff. Resulting research discoveries will enhance the health and well-being ofall Americans.Specific Aim 1: Replace a 48 year old autoclave at the Arizona Health Sciences Center Animal Facility(AHSC) (47000 gsf; 28325 nasf). This is one of two large autoclaves located in the cage wash area thatserves the largest UA animal facility and is at the end of its useful life. It is the primary autoclave used tosterilize rodent caging for GEM and immune deficient rodents for this facility. The repair frequency for thisautoclave is high and parts have become extremely difficult to obtain.Specific Aim 2: Install a second autoclave at the Central Animal Facility (CAF) (40254 gsf; 21139 nasf). Theonly autoclave located in the CAF cage wash area is 25 years old and nearing the end of its useful life. It isused to sterilize rodent caging for GEM and to decontaminate non-approved source rodent quarantine andABSL-2 rodent caging. The repair frequency for this autoclave is high parts have become extremely difficult toobtain one door is no longer functional and prolonged downtime requires caging be transported one mile toand from the AHSC animal facility for sterilization. Installing a second autoclave provides redundancy in thenear term and a replacement when the existing autoclave is no longer repairable.Specific Aim 3: Upgrade control units and door gaskets on two autoclaves in the BIO5 Animal Facility (BIO5)(23040 gsf; 16773 nasf). These two autoclaves serve the entire GEM barrier facility where only sterile mousecaging is used. Use of these autoclaves is frequently disrupted due to poorly engineered proprietary controlunits that are not easily repaired and door gaskets that must be removed and serviced at least once every 3weeks.Together these improvements will greatly enhance autoclave reliability increase autoclave capacity neededfor expansion and provide redundancy to allow continued operations during preventive maintenance or repairof individual autoclaves at each of the three largest UA animal facilities.