On March 26, CNU’s College of Dentistry opened a specific pathogen free (SPF) laboratory animal care facility. Among the dental colleges in Korea, CNU’s dental college is the first one which has a SPF laboratory animal facility. Ahead of the introduction of the new dental school system in 2005, the new facility will enhance the quality of research on dentistry. The College of Dentistry contributed 250 million won toward the construction of two laboratory animal science facilities inside of the Dental Building II. One is a SPF unit with an area of 37 pyong (122.1 square feet) and the other one is a semi-SPF unit with an area of 33 square feet. The objective of the Specific Pathogen Free facility is to provide viral diagnostic testing to enhance the health, and suitability for research. The facility breeds, supplies and raises experimental animals of high quality and guides, helps and supervises researchers in matters related to the use of animals in experimental procedures. Use of good quality animals is essential for obtaining reliable and reproducible experimental results in research and for the production and testing of drugs and vaccines. Most prestigious journals tend to give high reliability on the research and testing activities using SPF laboratory animals. It is expected the new facility would be greatly helpful to bring reliable source of good quality research papers. “The new SPF laboratory animal facility will enhance the quality of research and testing activities. We expect much more research papers would be published in world-class academic journals. The new facility will surely contribute to the development of Korean dental science and to fostering talented dental scientists in the future,” said Prof. Oh Won-man, Dean of the College. Ahead of the introduction of the new dental school system in 2005, the College of Dentistry has made all-out efforts to renew its status through a variety of programs including the faculty recruitment, the construction of Dental College Building II, the construction of clinical education facility, the establishment of the dental hospital, and the academic ties with foreign prestigious universities, etc.