The Biggs Avian Research Building is a poultry and small animal experimental facility designated to support the scientific need for low containment studies.
Opened in February 2023, the Biggs Avian Research Building facilitates research key to improving animal health and welfare as well as, enhacing global food security.
The facility contains nine animal rooms and operates at containment level 2 (CL2). Appropriate poultry housing conditions, such as isolators and raised floor pens, ensure the welfare of both animals and staff is maintained. Researchers conduct experiments on economically significantly important poultry pathogens such as Marek’s disease and avian influenza.
The building is named in recognition of the eminent poultry scientist, Professor Peter Biggs, who worked at the Houghton Grange site in Cambridgeshire and which subsequently became part of the Institute for Animal Health. Professor Biggs was the first to isolate a herpesvirus, the causative agent of Marek’s disease, and was awarded a CBE in 1987.