Friday, February 2, 2007
On the corner of 39th Street and Rainbow Boulevard in Kansas City, Kan., stands 205,000 square feet of laboratories and rooms to foster new research on liver disease, reproductive sciences, neuroscience, diabetes and proteomics, which examines structures of proteins and how they can be used to treat diseases.
The $57.2 million Kansas Life Sciences Innovation Center opened Jan. 23. The center not only offers a larger space, but also higher quality machinery and options for faculty than the previous facility.
The bottom line is that now we have a state-of-the-art facility and we can compete with other first class institutions
- Yvonne Wan said
Peter Smith, neurological sciences program director, said that the center’s structure also allows for a team science approach.
“There is a change in the direction of research,” Smith said. “We are all moving away from the independent researcher sitting alone at his telescope late at night. That model is certainly not what we expect of our people right now. What we have now are teams, groups of people that have complimentary backgrounds and approach problems from different perspectives.”
The new center houses 60 laboratories — approximately one lab for every professor — and has 300 total occupants. Twenty-three new professors were recruited from throughout the nation, said Paul Terranova, vice chancellor for research.
As part of a statewide effort to push the limits of research, the state will fund the first five years of the center. The KU Medical Center will fund the final 15 years from research grants. Also, the Hall Family Foundation donated $27 million to provide up-to-date equipment.
The previous facilities had been used since around 1970. Before the new center was built, Smith said the scientists were limited by inadequate space and conditions, including constant leaks, contamination and air conditioning problems.
Another need for the new center was created by the recent expansion of research programs. Yvonne Wan, liver program director, said that over the past three years, the liver program added eight researchers, causing interactions to become less frequent. Wan said they needed a centralized location to achieve a higher caliber of research.
“The bottom line is that now we have a state-of-the-art facility and we can compete with other first class institutions,” Wan said. “We are fully equipped to do any type of research we want to do. There are no limiting factors.”
Smith said at the R.L. Smith Mental Retardation Center, he had 45 investigators working on projects at seven different sites. With the new center, 80 percent of the investigators can work in one area.
“We have a culture of collaboration and cooperation, which is very difficult to establish if all of your people are in different locations,” Smith said. “Now, we can achieve a lot more.”
Smith said that it is exciting to see a new priority on research after he saw the KU Medical Center slow down its forward momentum.
“It is very gratifying after seeing things stagnate for a while,” Smith said. “We have gone through a realignment of perspectives. We are seeing ourselves as a valuable player in the state and community, technology and understanding, and a major force locally, regionally and nationally.”
Kansan staff writer Danae DeShazer can be contacted at ddeshazer@kansan.com.
— Edited by Kelly Lanigan
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