Cornell disease detection facility gets $1-million facelift

ITHACA, N.Y. - 6/21/05 - The Pathology Teaching and Diagnostic Complex at the Cornell University College of Veterinary Medicine has been upgraded for the first time since its construction in the 1950s.

The $1-million upgrade includes renovations to the Kenneth I. Gumaer Necropsy Laboratory and construction of 3,900 square feet of new space for laboratories, including a diagnostic immunohistology laboratory and a transmissible spongiform encephalopathy (TSE) diagnosis laboratory. The new design features controlled access to the facility.

"The infectious proteins, known as prions, that cause TSE are extremely resistant, so the work must be done in special areas so these agents don't contaminate other laboratories," says Sean McDonough, associate professor in Cornell's Department of Biomedical Sciences.

Other upgrades include: an anatomic pathology teaching theater with 60-student capacity and digital projectors that provide high-resolution images and Internet accessibility; an avian, exotics and special procedures room, complete with hooded biosafety cabinet and down-draft table for examining infectious diseases; new small-animal morgues and tissue storage make the facility more usable and able to handle infectious-disease patients.