Biohazard safety cabinet required to study immune-behavioural connections

My research examines how interactions between the immune system and other physiological systems can lead to behaviours such as stress-induced immunosuppression and illness-induced anorexia. To perform these studies I need to assess the strength of the immune system, i.e. its ability to resist disease. The only way to measure disease resistance is to test the ability of an animal to resist a live pathogen. I work on insects because their immune systems are less complicated than mammals. The pathogens I use in my experiments are insect pathogens, but some of them can also infect humans, especially people who are immunocompromised. For this reason, these pathogens have recently been declared human pathogens. To continue working with these pathogens, I must purchase a Biohazard Safety Cabinet. The Cabinet will protect my students, myself, and the environment from contamination by these pathogens. Unfortunately there are no Biohazard Safety Cabinets in the department. Because infected animals and samples cannot be removed from a biohazard area, the Biohazard Safety Cabinet needs to be located in my lab, in close proximity to the area in which the animals are tested and housed. Having the Biohazard Safety Cabinet will also allow me to teach my students how to work with potential pathogens. These skills are useful because a number of scientific fields and occupations require the use of live pathogens, such as immunology and environmental studies (e.g. immunotoxicology). Hospital laboratories also require people trained to work with live pathogens.