Tufts University Arnold Biosafety Lab Opening

On June 11, George Marsh, Katelyn Gosselin and I attended the opening celebration of the Tufts University Arnold 8 Biosafety lab in the BRPH complex near Chinatown. The project is a BSL3 lab within a lab, with three workrooms and a specialty equipment room, dedicated to tuberculosis research. Windows provide visual connections between the BSL3 workrooms and the outer open labs (to be fit-out in the future) Harris Berman, Dean of Tufts University School of Medicine, said that he considered the completion of the laboratory a landmark event in the history of Tufts University School of Medicine and anticipated that it will be the catalyst for important interdisciplinary work on the development of new therapies and preventive strategies for tuberculosis and other important global pathogens. John Leong, Chair of Department of Molecular Biology and Microbiology, thanked the entire team for their efforts during the 2+ year process (and he had close to 1000 emails to prove it). Bree Aldridge, Assistant Professor, described the exciting work that is being planned for the facility. Representatives from Tufts faculty, EHS, Public Relations, Shawmut construction, as well as Chinatown community advisory board also attended the event.