Higher Education

The University of Hawaii opened a new $150-facility at the John A. Burns School of Medicine on Sept. 30, 2005. The building consists of eighty percent laboratory space, including a BSL-3 suite, for researchers and programs relocated from the UH-Manoa campus. Those programs include Tropical Medicine and Infectious Diseases; the Cancer Research Center; Cell and Molecular Biology; Developmental and Reproductive Biology; Neuroscience; and Genomics.

Western Michigan University opened its new 200,000-sf College of Health and Human Services facility on its Kalamazoo campus in September of 2005. Designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration, the building features state-of-the-art laboratories, four computer labs, multimedia and distance learning classrooms, biofeedback and motion analysis labs, faculty offices, and a 100-seat lecture hall.

Winston Salem University dedicated its new 62,000-sf Computer Science Center in September 2005. The $13-million facility features eight research labs, three computer labs, nine classrooms, and is connected to the high speed network known as Internet 2.

Northern Arizona University has broken ground on a $31-million facility for the College of Engineering and Natural Sciences on its Flagstaff campus. The 90,000-sf project will be sited in the Chemistry and Biological Sciences Building and will house 18 teaching laboratories, 18 research laboratories, and support space. Designed by Carter Burgess of Phoenix, the facility is being constructed by Holder Construction of Atlanta and is slated for completion in November 2006.

The Rochester Institute of Technology is constructing the 35,000-sf Center for Bioscience and Technology (CBET) in Rochester, N.Y. Slated for completion by fall 2006, the $14-million academic facility will house laboratories, classrooms, and equipment for programs in bioinformatics, biotechnology, forensics, and graduate studies.

Clemson University is planning to construct a $6-million incubator facility in Pendleton, S.C. Sited in the Clemson Research Park, the 40,000-sf Innovation Center will be located adjacent to Clemson's Advanced Materials Research Laboratory. Additionally, Clemson has allotted $10.3 million in funding to create a research campus for the Clemson University Restoration Institute (CURI) in North Charleston on the former Charleston Naval Base.

Baylor College of Medicine celebrated the groundbreaking of the Margaret M. Alkek Building for Biomedical Research in Houston on Sept. 16, 2005. The 203,000-gsf, eight-story facility will feature flexible lab and office space designed to foster interdisciplinary collaboration in areas including cardiovascular sciences, diabetes, cancer, pharmacogenomics, imaging, informatics, and proteomics. Completion is expected in May 2007.

The University of Illinois at Chicago (UIC) opened its new $145-million College of Medicine Research Building in September 2005. Providing state-of-the-art laboratories for biomedical researchers, the 325,000-sf building represents a 15 percent increase in UIC's total research space. The eight-story facility will bring together researchers in the fields of neuroscience, cardiovascular disease, cancer, women's health, and immunology/transplantation.

The University of Virginia Health System broke ground in September 2005 on a $70.7-million medical building on its Charlottesville campus. The 102,000-sf facility will accommodate research on vaccine therapy, immunology, infectious diseases, cancer, and biotechnology. The building will house 240 scientists working in 60 research teams.

The University of Minnesota Duluth (UMD) opened its new $33-million, 110,000-sf science facility in fall 2005. Part of the UMD College of Science and Engineering, the three-story building is comprised of a teaching wing and a research wing, and houses computer and wet labs, offices, and study space for chemistry and biology. Designed by architect Ken Kornberg of Palo Alto, Calif., the facility features an open-lab layout to foster collaboration.

The University of North Carolina is partnering with Dole Food Company, North Carolina State University, developer David Murdock, and other institutions to create the 350-acre North Carolina Research Campus in Kannapolis. Upon completion, the campus will comprise over one million square feet of office and laboratory space as well as commercial, retail, and residential facilities. The first 330,000-sf building will include:

The National Institutes of Health's National Institute for Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) has awarded the University of Louisville a $22 million federal grant to construct a biodefense research laboratory on its Shelby campus. One of thirteen BSL-3 Regional Biosafety Laboratories in the nation funded by NIAID since 2003, the 45,000-sf facility will be supported by $12.6 million in University funding. The building will house the University's Center for Predictive Medicine.

The National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases has awarded George Mason University (GMU) a $25-million grant to construct a new BSL-3 biocontainment laboratory in Fairfax, Va. The facility will be part of GMU's $45-million National Center for Biodefense and Infectious Diseases, an 83,000-sf facility that will accommodate research on diseases considered to be potential bioterror threats.

The University of Massachusetts Dartmouth broke ground in September 2005 on a $9-million, 20,000-sf research center dedicated to the study of botulism, a potential bioterrorism threat. 

The University of Hawaii has been awarded a $25 million grant from the National Institutes of Health's National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases to construct a new biodefense laboratory in Pearl City. The BSL-3 facility will be sited near the existing state Department of Health laboratory and may receive additional funding from a proposed $12 million state grant. Construction of the new biocontainment laboratory is slated to begin in fall 2006.