$28 million life sciences building to open in 2004
Archived article from Sep 2, 2002
By Joseph Blumberg
Genetics and biomaterials — two of the hottest areas in biomedical research — are getting a new home at Rutgers. Groundbreaking took place July 18 for a $28 million life sciences building on the Busch campus.
"This building, and the program and faculty it represents, is the product of more than a decade of vision, creative thinking and a tremendous amount of hard work," said President Francis L. Lawrence. "It represents, in a very concrete way, the future of Rutgers as a world-class research university."
The three-story, 75,000-square-foot structure is targeted for completion in fall 2004. The building will include laboratories for scientific investigation and student instruction, and is expected to foster the research and training that will translate into human and technical resources for New Jersey companies.
"Research conducted in this building will enable Rutgers to forge new linkages with New Jersey's health care industry," said Joseph J. Seneca, university vice president for academic affairs. "It will also provide our students with opportunities to work beside some of the world's most highly regarded researchers in the life sciences in a state-of-the art facility, enhancing their education to become tomorrow's scientists."
"The new building will draw more scholarly talent, more research funding, more industrial and academic partnerships and more innovation in the study of health care and quality of life issues," added Lawrence.
State funds made available through the 1999 Higher Education Capital Improvement Program and a bond offering approved by the Rutgers Board of Governors July 12 constitute the core financing for the building. Funds are also being raised through the Rutgers Campaign: Creating the Future Today.
In addition to the research space, the building will also include multiple formal and informal meeting rooms, and serve as a geographic focal point and connection among existing Busch campus life sciences buildings.
An 8,750-square-foot atrium will be the centerpiece of the building and offer a convenient setting for meetings and lectures. Interdisciplinary collaboration and the sharing of ideas have been guiding principles for the Division of Life Sciences since its inception in 1996, and the atrium will facilitate the interactions upon which collaborations can be built.
"In this new building, students and faculty will be able to sit together, look over journals, exchange ideas and interact," said Kenneth J. Breslauer, dean and director of the Division of Life Sciences. "The history of science is replete with examples of how such informal crosstalk has planted seeds of collaboration that have resulted in some of the most creative and important scientific discoveries."
The Human Genetics Institute, the department of genetics and the New Jersey Center for Biomaterials will all be housed in the new building. The biomaterials center is a cooperative research initiative sponsored by the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey, Rutgers and New Jersey Institute of Technology.
Under the direction of Jay A. Tischfield, investigators at the Human Genetics Institute and the department of genetics will probe the genetic history and basis of complex diseases such as Alzheimer's, autism, alcoholism, schizophrenia, diabetes, bipolar disorder, cardiovascular disease and cancer.
Under the direction of Joachim B. Kohn, researchers at the New Jersey Center for Biomaterials will use sophisticated laboratories and equipment to develop materials for repairing and regenerating tissues and for delivering drugs and genetic material in the body. The new materials will contribute to advanced treatments for trauma, burns, tissue loss due to cancer, congenital defects, sports injuries, cardiovascular disease, diabetes and osteoporosis.
|
