JBNU opened the Laboratory Animal Center at its Iksan Specialized Campus on July 9 and has begun establishing a research support hub to back regional bio and biomedical research and its linkage to industrialization.

The JBNU Laboratory Animal Center (Director: Professor Kim Sang-jin) was established to train research personnel and enhance the ethics and reliability of animal experiments by providing professional education, research techniques, and necessary facilities for animal research. Building on the functions of the previously operated laboratory animal center, JBNU will put a more modernized research infrastructure into full operation with this opening.

The newly opened Laboratory Animal Center is a three-story building with a total floor area of 4,330.62 m². The first floor houses housing and experimental facilities for medium- and large-sized animals such as dogs, pigs, rabbits, and chickens, as well as operating rooms. The second floor contains housing and experimental facilities for mice and other common laboratory rodents, lecture and practice rooms, and administrative spaces. The third floor accommodates SPF and ABSL3 rodent housing and experimental facilities. The center is equipped to support a wide range of work from rodent experiments to medium- and large-animal research.

With a total project cost of KRW 23.6 billion, the Laboratory Animal Center is equipped with top-level dedicated facilities for medium- and large-animal experiments and advanced analytical equipment among universities and research institutes in the Jeonbuk region.

This opening is expected to elevate the university’s research competitiveness by providing practical and safe research and training environments to undergraduates, graduate students, and other next-generation researchers who have faced limitations due to insufficient infrastructure. It is also expected to serve as a win-win hub across education and industry by easing research bottlenecks for regional bio companies that have faced difficulties in preclinical testing.

The center will operate as comprehensive research infrastructure supporting the entire research lifecycle, not merely as an animal housing facility. It will provide researchers with expert support ranging from experimental design and animal care to experiment execution and data analysis. The center will also offer animal experiment training for novice researchers and students, clinical skills training using medium- and large-sized animals, consulting for companies, research institutes, and regional universities, and contract animal testing services.

Importantly, the JBNU Laboratory Animal Center is intended to function as an open, shared infrastructure accessible not only to on-campus researchers but also to regional universities, companies, and research institutes. JBNU plans to expand cooperative systems with regional universities and related institutions and operate the facility to allow shared use at a certain scale, improving regional researchers’ access to laboratory animal infrastructure.

Through this, the center is expected to broadly support basic research as well as preclinical research, verification of medical devices and drug candidates, and research linked to industrialization.

Animal welfare and research ethics have been presented as the core values of the center’s operation. JBNU plans to establish a responsible culture of animal research based on the 3R principles and to create a reliable research environment through systematic management and professional support that meet international standards. The university envisions cultivating the center as a foundation for enhancing research competitiveness and developing the regional biohealth industry by securing various certifications, strengthening professional staff, and expanding educational programs.

Along with stabilizing initial operations, JBNU plans to secure the center’s mid- to long-term self-sustaining foundation by obtaining certifications and expanding research service contracts and educational projects.

Director Kim Sang-jin of the Laboratory Animal Center said, “The JBNU Laboratory Animal Center will establish itself as an open research platform that connects research, education, and industrialization, beyond a simple facility for supporting animal experiments. We will build a system that can be used by on-campus researchers as well as regional universities, companies, and research institutes to strengthen the Jeonbuk region’s capacity in bio and biomedical research and contribute to industrial development through reliable support for animal experiments.”

President Yang Oh-bong said, “The JBNU Laboratory Animal Center is an important research infrastructure capable of conducting a wide range of animal experiments, from rodent studies to medium- and large-animal research. We will establish a total research support system that covers the entire research process from early-stage experimental design, animal care, experiment execution, to data analysis. We will develop it into an open research support infrastructure shared by regional universities, companies, and research institutes to strengthen the Jeonbuk region’s bio and biomedical research competitiveness and promote industrialization.”