On Friday, the University of Nebraska Board of Regents will vote on UNMC proposals that would give the green light on a second research tower, move the College of Nursing Lincoln division into new space and create three new centers of excellence.
Board members will meet at 11:30 a.m. at Varner Hall in Lincoln.
The regents’ agenda includes voting on a program statement for a second research tower on the west edge of the UNMC campus. The proposed $74 million Research Center of Excellence II would improve the health and biosecurity of Nebraskans by providing additional infrastructure for biomedical research, biosecurity preparedness and clinical laboratory service.
If approved, the Research Center of Excellence II would be a 10-level, 242,000-square-foot building that is similar in architectural design to the Durham Research Center, which opened last year. Construction could begin in January 2006, with substantial completion tentatively scheduled for October 2007. The tower would be constructed adjacent to the DRC.
The board also will consider a proposal to lease space at the Commerce Court Building at 1230 O St. in Lincoln for the College of Nursing Lincoln Division.
The division is currently at Fairfield and Benton Halls on the University of Nebraska-Lincoln campus, which has significant physical limitations. If approved, the move would be completed in time for the 2005-06 school year and would give the College of Nursing 24,779 square feet of space on three levels of the building. The initial lease proposal is for seven years.
The regents also will vote on the creation of the following centers:
Nebraska Center for Cellular Signaling – The proposed center would further the understanding of cell signaling – the biochemical response of cells to their environment – in relation to a variety of cancers.
If approved, the center also would expand the cellular signaling research of talented junior researchers to foster new research initiatives that ultimately would improve the health of Nebraskans and people around the world. Research projects would focus on head and neck cancer, prostate cancer, colon cancer, skin cancer and cancer in general.
Margaret Wheelock, Ph.D., professor of oral biology, UNMC College of Dentistry, would serve as director of the center.
The Nebraska Center for Drug Delivery and Nanomedicine (CDDN) – The proposed center would develop innovative tools for improving drug delivery systems through nanoscale technologies. Nanomedicine refers to highly specific medical intervention at the molecular scale for curing disease or repairing damaged tissues, such as bone, muscle or nerve. A nanometer is one-billionth of a meter, too small to be seen with a conventional lab microscope.
The interdisciplinary center is a collaborative effort of UNMC, the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and Creighton University. Alexander “Sasha” Kabanov, Ph.D., D.Sc., Parke-Davis professor of pharmaceutical sciences in UNMC’s College of Pharmacy, would serve as director of the center.
UNMC Center for Research in Leukemia and Lymphoma — The proposed center would facilitate a more rapid translation of research discoveries to benefit cancer patients. If approved, the center would, physically and administratively, bring together basic, translational, and clinical research activities with the goal of providing a comprehensive system of support, collaboration and communication for researchers who study cancers of the blood (including Hodgkin’s disease, non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma, leukemia, myelodysplasia, and multiple myeloma).
Julie Vose, M.D., professor and chief of the section of hematology/oncology in the UNMC Department of Internal Medicine, would serve as director of the center.