In the realm of health care, privacy protections are needed to preserve patients' dignity and prevent possible harms. Ten years ago, to address these concerns as well as set guidelines for ethical health research, Congress called for a set of federal standards now known as the HIPAA Privacy Rule. In its 2009 report, Beyond the HIPAA Privacy Rule: Enhancing Privacy, Improving Health Through Research, the Institute of Medicine's Committee on Health Research and the Privacy of Health Information concludes that the HIPAA Privacy Rule does not protect privacy as well as it should, and that it impedes important health research.

Research institutions have or are planning to build, expand and renovate animal research facilities to keep up with the demands of biomedical research caused in part by growth in the use of genetically altered rodents and the upsurge of research in infectious diseases. Properly designed facilities greatly facilitate effective management and high-quality day-to-day animal care that is required to optimally support animal research and testing. There are multiple solutions to address the myriad of factors that influence the design and construction of animal research facilities. There is no "best design applicable for all facilities and arguably not even a single "best design for a given facility. For this reason, Planning and Designing Research Animal Facilities is not intended to be a "how to book. The goal is to cover the basic programmatic requirements of animal research facilities, provide ideas for meeting those requirements while, hopefully, stimulating the creative process in which designers in consultation with those who work in animal research facilities generate even better ideas. That is how progress has been made and will continue to be made. - Facilitates communication between the parties involved in planning and designing animal facilities by providing contemporary information, and stimulating creativity that will help lead to wise decisions and advance the knowledge base for planning, design and constructing animal research facilities