Supporting the future of science

University officials and government leaders participate in the groundbreaking ceremony for the University of Iowa Institute for Biomedical Discovery (UIIBD) on the health sciences campus.

Members of the University of Iowa community celebrated a new building and took an important step toward advancing science in Iowa at the groundbreaking ceremony and reception for the University of Iowa Institute for Biomedical Discovery (UIIBD) on Sept. 28.

UI President Sally Mason, Jean Robillard, MD (’74 R), vice president for medical affairs and dean of the UI Carver College of Medicine, and Meredith Hay, PhD, UI vice president for research, were joined by Iowa Gov. Chet Culver and Lt. Gov. Patty Judge for the groundbreaking ceremony.

The UIIBD, a $120-million, 200,000-square-foot facility to be built on the medical campus, will begin construction in late 2008 or early 2009, with a target completion date of 2010. The Institute will establish a world-class setting in which scientists from across the University will collaborate on high-risk, high-yield research in the life and basic sciences with the goal of advancing treatments for a wide array of human diseases.

Mitch Beckman, UI Foundation, and Edwin Stone, MD, PhD, professor of ophthalmology and visual sciences, and Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator.

“One of the most exciting aspects of the Institute is the fact that UI faculty from across disciplines will share research space,” said Robillard. “This will make their work more convenient and efficient, and help to cultivate new ideas. It also should enable our faculty members to more quickly develop potential cures and treatments for disease.”

In addition to stimulating and fostering cross-disciplinary research within the University, the UIIBD will enhance efforts to recruit outstanding scientists, increase opportunities for multidisciplinary coursework for students and stimulate interest in life sciences research beyond traditional boundaries.

Iowa Gov. Chet Culver speaks to media at the groundbreaking ceremony.

Earlier this year, Culver and the Iowa General Assembly approved $30 million in state appropriations—$10 million each year in fiscal years 2008, 2009 and 2010—for construction of the Institute. UI officials estimate that the UIIBD and its related programs will cost approximately $120 million. Additional funding for the facility will come from the University, private gifts and federal support.

Michael Apicella, MD, professor and head of microbiology and interim senior associate dean for scientific affairs, has been leading a 14-member task force that was established last spring to investigate how to successfully implement a plan for the space.

The task force will provide its recommendations to the University’s administration this fall.