NEW LAB FOR STEM CELL RESEARCH AT UCONN

April 9, 2010


An architect's rendering of 400 Farmington Avenue. Photo by: the UConn Health Center.
The Univ. of Connecticut is just months away from opening a new research building in Farmington to enhance Connecticut’s role as a leader in innovative high tech research and technology transfer in the areas of stem cell biology, advanced microscopy and imaging, computational biology and genetics.
Especially designed with open labs that flow into each other and office areas located on hallways running between labs, the new Cell and Genomic Sciences Building intends to promote interdisciplinary research among the academic and industry chemists, geneticists, physicists, mathematicians, cell biologists, and computer scientists housed there. This collaborative effort aims to capitalize on the power of different areas of scientific expertise to revolutionize the practice of medicine.

“Our goal is to maximize the state’s investment in stem cell research by establishing an infrastructure to support scientists in their quest of turning discoveries at the bench into therapies for diseases such as autism and cancer and to advance the field of regenerative medicine,” says Marc Lalande, Director of UConn’s Stem Cell Institute, as well as professor and chairman of the medical school’s genetics and developmental biology department. “This is an unprecedented opportunity for us.”

Purchased by UConn with Board of Trustees’ approval in 2007, a former research and testing facility at 400 Farmington Avenue-–across the street from UConn’s Health Center campus-–has been undergoing a $52 million transformation and is to be equipped with the latest technologies for studying cells and their genomes. The new 117,000 square foot building is expected to open in July 2010.

The renovated building will house research laboratories, offices, a 100-seat auditorium, cafeteria, and incubator space for businesses eager to commercialize stem cell science. Designed by the Boston laboratory architecture firm Goody Clancy, the renovations will meet the requirements of a LEED Silver rating, according to project manager Kevin Norton.