A groundbreaking Thursday at UNMC marks a new era of pharmacy education and research, thanks to the upcoming construction of the Lozier Center for Pharmacy Sciences and Education and Center for Drug Discovery.
It’s the latest in a series of unprecedented projects at the medical center, following the groundbreaking of the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center and the grand opening of the Stanley M. Truhlsen Eye Institute.
“Very few academic medical centers across the country have this quality of cutting-edge infrastructure dedicated to pharmacy education and research,” said UNMC Chancellor Harold M. Maurer, M.D. “With the Lozier Center for Pharmacy Sciences and Education and Center for Drug Discovery, UNMC once again puts itself in elite company.”
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The new building gives UNMC’s pharmacy students every advantage heading into today’s changing health care landscape, and UNMC’s esteemed research corps every tool available in order to uncover tomorrow’s breakthroughs.
Research activities conducted in the Center for Drug Discovery will be especially focused on infectious diseases, making UNMC a national leader in the field.
“No other academic medical center in the U.S. has a drug discovery program with a similar focus,” Dr. Maurer said.
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But the Lozier Center for Pharmacy Sciences and Education’s patient care simulation and instructional space will emphasize the increasing role of pharmacists in providing primary health care by incorporating a contemporary model pharmacy, a sterile compounding room and practice areas for patient assessment and point of care testing. Student interaction and study areas will be designed to optimize collaborative learning.
Said Courtney Fletcher, Pharm.D., dean of the College of Pharmacy: “This is a unique opportunity to imagine and improve the future of human health.”
The $35 million project will completely replace and expand the college’s education space and increase its research capacity by constructing a new, 85,000-square foot facility on the UNMC campus. Construction will begin in February 2014, with projected completion set for July 2015.
The facility will be built east of the Michael F. Sorrell Center for Health Science Education along Emile Street.
Major gifts from Ruth and Bill Scott and The Lozier Foundation were the driving force behind the project, which will be paid for by private donations with no state funds used.