digg it! del.icio.us Props to the trans-med folks at WashU!! The university made a big splash earlier this month when it announced plans for a new, $114 million research facility to house researchers involved in the school's BioMed21 initiative. Up till now, Biomed21 has been a loose association of academic groups pursuing so-called "translational research". These projects typically involve a combination of molecular biology and clinical studies, and aim to produce discoveries with real medical value within the scope of a few years. However, although most of these researchers are housed within the medical school, they're currently spread throughout numerous departments and facilities.

Thus, the big news: In a joint announcement, WashU and BJC Healthcare announced plans to construct an 11-story research tower in the center of the Barnes-Jewish campus to house the existing and future work of the Biomed21 initiative. The new building will be the largest yet constructed at the university and will house the relocated Department of Pathology and Immunology, headed by Herbert W. "Skip" Virgin, M.D., Ph.D., and the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology, headed by George A. Macones, M.D.

In addition, two floors of the building will be devoted to five new "Interdisciplinary Research Centers" focused on applying cross-disciplinary techniques to one of several human health disorders:

• The Center for Cancer Genomics, focusing on new genetic biomarkers for increased cancer risk
• The Center for the Investigation of Membrane Excitability Disorders (CIMED), investigating possible treatments for conditions like epilepsy, congenital cardiac dysfunction, and cystic fibrosis
• The Center for Women's Infectious Disease Research (cWIDR), aimed at uncovering the role of bacteria and viruses in UTI's, bladder dysfunction, and premature birth
• The Center for Interdisciplinary Studies of Diabetic Cardiovascular Disease, working towards a better understanding of diabetes and heart disease
• The Hope Center for Protein Folding and Neurodegeneration, studying new ways of diagnosing and treating neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's Disease

The new complex will also house researchers from the Center for Genome Science, currently at 4444 Forest Park, and an administrative center for BJC.

But wait, there's more! WashU is also spending $10 million to construct a new computing complex for its world-leading genome sequencing center, designed to hold 120 computing racks for bioinformatics. In all, the new construction comes to over $125 million in new facilities

All of this is a big deal for a couple of reasons:

1. WashU has been criticized in the past (occasionally rightly so) over the seemingly slow pace of technology transfer out of the lab and into the clinic. The new center represents a huge investment in the type of research most likely to make that jump


2. The human cancer projects and new bioinformatics center signals a renewed commitment by the medical school to its Genome Sequencing Center, probably its most valuable research asset


3. The new 11-story structure will markedly alter that landscape of Barnes-Jewish. Where previously there was only a parking garage, now will sit a gleaming glass tower


4. This announcement, plus news of the $55M i-CARES renewable energy initiative in June, represents a $180M investment in the university's biotechnology facilities, a huge amount that should serve both the school and the region well in the years to come

Some questions still remain, such as: Can the university tech transfer office keep up with the new research output? How will this project impact patient care at Barnes? What will the university do with all of the newly-empty space? But overall, a pretty exciting set of circumstances.

(...more from stltoday.com)