The lab was completed in 1990 with a grant from the Bonneville Power Administration, matched by funds from OSU. Its purpose is the study of infectious organisms of salmonids and other freshwaster fish species. The facility includes an area with stock tanks, an experimental area with more than 250 tanks of various sizes, an isolation/quarantine lab, and a multi-user lab space. Today it is known as the John L. Fryer Salmon Disease Laboratory; Dr. Fryer established OSU’s fish disease research program
The lab was established in 1981 in the School of Health and Physical Education. Today the lab, one of nine research labs in the College of Public Health and Human Sciences, is used for studies pertaining to exercise energy metabolism, athletic performance, and body composition.
Leong is a Distinguished Professor Emeritus of Microbiology who worked at OSU from 1975-2002, concentrating on viruses. While in Corvallis, she developed successful treatments for viral diseases afflicting regional trout and salmon using techniques including vaccines created from recombinant DNA.
