University of Miami Gets $14.8M Grant to Build New Research Facility
The high-tech research facility will create jobs and accelerate the pace of discovery in neurological processes and related diseases.
The National Institutes of Health has awarded the University of Miami a $14.8 million grant funded by the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) towards the construction of a Neuroscience and Health Annex on the University’s Coral Gables campus. The Annex will create an interactive hub for interdisciplinary research based on neurological imaging and health research and will provide facilities to be shared by scientists from the College of Arts and Sciences and the Miller School of Medicine.
“This new facility will provide state-of-the-art laboratories where scientists and physicians from across the University can converge to ask some of the most pressing questions in modern science. We are thrilled the NIH selected the University and the College to receive this award,” said Dr. Jacqueline Dixon, Interim Dean of the College of Arts & Sciences at the University of Miami. “The new Neuroscience and Health Annex will allow us to continue the expansion of our research capabilities and establish a sophisticated imaging center.”
The new building will include a human functional magnetic resonance imaging (fMRI) laboratory, where scientists, clinicians and engineers can work together on fundamental aspects of brain function, changing the way scientists diagnose and treat myriad neurological diseases.
One of the challenges to understanding human emotions, cognition and neurological disorders is linking changes in brain cell function to changes in subjective experiences and observable behaviors. The ability to track nerve cell activity and make real time connections to human behavior is revolutionizing the way scientists and physicians study the brain. The new facility at the University of Miami will soon allow scientists here to fully participate in that revolution.
Executive Vice President and Provost Thomas LeBlanc is "extremely proud of the way our faculty stepped-up to the challenge of ARRA opportunities. This peer-reviewed award to the College of Arts and Sciences is the latest of 114 awards totaling $89.9 million to the University of Miami from various federal agencies including the National Institutes of Health and the National Science Foundation."
The Recovery Act funds for this facility will help create jobs in Miami Dade County through the construction of an addition to the James M. Cox Jr. Science Center within the College of Arts and Sciences. The 37,700 sq ft facility is designed to be environmentally sustainable and LEED Certified. The new building is scheduled for completion in early 2012.
