The University of Missouri-Columbia and its partners in St. Louis and Kansas City are still in the running for the Department of Homeland Security’s new National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility.

The department said the MU application was among 18 selected for the next phase of the review process. The new $450 million facility would be used to investigate infectious diseases and bioterrorism threats and to react to health emergencies.

Joe Kornegay, dean of the MU College of Veterinary Medicine, said the fact that the Missouri consortium had survived the first cut in the selection process was a reflection of the quality of those participating in the "I-70 life sciences corridor."

In addition to MU, the Missouri group includes Washington University, St. Louis University, the Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis and the Kansas City-area Life Sciences Institute. Animal-health companies based in Fort Dodge, Kan., and Kansas City also are part of the consortium.

Officials with the homeland security department have said scientists armed with state-of-the-art technology to respond to threats from animal diseases will staff the new bio-safety containment facility. The project, which would cover more than 500,000 square feet, will house laboratories that will provide high-security spaces for agricultural and animal studies and training.

The department assembled advisers from several federal agencies to review applications from 29 sites. The 18 sites that advanced through the selection process were notified on Wednesday.

Kornegay said the department’s letter, sent via e-mail, included information on additional steps in the selection process. Before the end of this month, applicants will receive questions that can be used as a basis for submitting revised proposals.

"They have also indicated that, based on the responses, they will identify a group of remaining sites to visit," Kornegay said. He said that by the end of the year, the list of potential sites would be shortened further. Each site left on the short list would face an environmental-impact study.

"The Department of Homeland Security would come in and look more critically at the sites themselves," Kornegay added. Department officials would conduct public forums to address questions from groups in the area.

Kornegay said he expected the final site would be selected by early 2008.

The new facility would replace the existing Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York, which was left off the list of those that are still in the running. In addition to Missouri, those states with sites in contention are California, Georgia, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin.