Biomedical Research Building at SLU Health Sciences Center Gets $4 Million Construction Grant

The Research Building is slated to open in Spring 2007.

ST. LOUIS -- The NIH has awarded Saint Louis University a $4 million grant from the National Center for Research Resources for the new biomedical research building.

This construction grant is focused on the sixth, seventh and eighth floors of the new building, which will comprise the new "Center for Research in Emerging Infections and Vaccines."

"These are not easy grants to get," said Patricia Hagen, Ph.D., associate provost. "We were fortunate in this application for two primary reasons: the quality of the research going into the building and the innovative, modular design of the building, which has as its main objective the promotion of collaborative research among different departments and divisions."

SLU scientists will collaborate in the Research Building's many labs.

Research Facilities Improvement Program (RFIP) grants are awarded to biomedical institutions to expand, remodel, and renovate or alter existing research facilities or construct new research facilities. Improvements under this program must support basic and/or clinical biomedical and behavioral research, and they may also support research training.

The principal investigator on the project is Patricia L. Monteleone, M.D., dean of Saint Louis University School of Medicine.

"The Center for Research on Emerging Infections and Vaccines can have a major impact on the University's ability to translate basic research in immunology, microbiology and infectious disease into effective vaccines and therapeutics," Monteleone said. "Modern facilities for the center will certainly generate new research involving vaccine development, molecular biology, virology, immunology and epidemiology."

The Center for Research on Emerging Infections and Vaccines (CREIV) will consist of the University's Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Unit, HIV Vaccine Evaluation Unit, Midwest Research Center for Excellence in Biodefense, and Heartland Consortium for Vaccine Development.

The innovative new facility for the CREIV will:

• Provide a rich environment for the training of scientists to meet a critical need for expertise in reassessing older vaccines (including older biodefense vaccines) with new technologies to improve safety and efficacy.
• Provide investigators in basic and clinical research with state-of-the-art facilities to enhance interdisciplinary work and lead to discoveries for the prevention and treatment of infections and the development of vaccines.
• Provide an interface with educational programs in biodefense, such as SLU's Center for the Study of Bioterrorism and Emerging Infections in the School of Public Health.
• Improve opportunities for interdisciplinary research in underserved populations (including vaccination of the elderly) through enhanced understanding of the immune system.
• Accelerate HIV vaccine development through collaboration on pathogenesis and prevention research.

The University's medical research has grown extensively over the past few years. SLU's research funding from the National Institutes of Health increased 123 percent from 1998 to 2004.

The Center for Research on Emerging Infections and Vaccines will encompass 38,479 Net Square Feet in the new Biomedical Medical Research Building. Within the CREIV, a 5,611 Net Square Foot Clinical Research Core Lab complex will facilitate clinical translational research.

For more information about the University's new biomedical research building, visit researchbuilding.slu.edu on the World Wide Web.

Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center offers the widest range of health professions schools among U.S. Catholic medical centers. In addition to its School of Medicine, the Saint Louis University Health Sciences Center includes the Edward and Margaret Doisy College of Health Sciences, the Center for Advanced Dental Education, the School of Public Health and the Center for Health Care Ethics.

Saint Louis University School of Medicine was established in 1836 and has the distinction of awarding the first M.D. degree west of the Mississippi River. The School of Medicine is a pioneer in vaccine research, immunology, geriatric medicine, organ transplantation, chronic disease prevention, cardiovascular disease, and neurosciences, among others. The School of Medicine trains physicians and biomedical scientists, conducts medical research, and provides health services on a local, national and international level. ###

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