Research Administration

Blake Harrison

Director of Animal Research and ACHRI Facility Operations

Phone: (501) 364-2710

Mr. Harrison has been involved with ACHRI since its origins over 15 years ago. He was involved with the renovation and redesign of the Surgical Building into the current ACHRI Research Building in the early 1990s. He directed ACHRI’s animal facility, one of the major functions of the building. Mr. Harrison guided the facility through its accreditation by the Association for Assessment and Accreditation of Laboratory Animal Care (AAALAC) International. He also ensures that the facility’s technicians are certified by the American Association for Laboratory Animal Science (AALAS). In addition, Mr. Harrison and his animal facilities and operations staffs conform to applicable state and federal regulations and policies from agencies and organizations including the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC), the Environmental Protection Agency, the Drug Enforcement Agency, the United Stated Department of Agriculture, and the Arkansas State Department of Health and Human Services. As ACHRI continues to grow, Mr. Harrison has been involved as a team member in over 6 major construction projects including the Arkansas Children’s Nutrition Center. Currently, Mr. Harrison coordinates security, safety, maintenance, and energy management for approximately 150,000 square feet of research space.

Before the establishment of ACHRI, Mr. Harrison was a project coordinator for the Department of Pediatrics at UAMS. He assisted the department in creating its human resources component. He later undertook the opportunity to oversee the department’s animal project for biomedical research at Fort Roots in North Little Rock. This venture was incorporated into the creation of ACHRI at Arkansas Children’s Hospital. Mr. Harrison has earned a bachelor’s degree in business administration from the University of Arkansas at Little Rock.