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"Opening a new building is a tremendous leap forward, not only for
our medical school, but also for the many publics we serve," Poshard
said. "The laboratories in this addition here on the SIU School of
Medicine campus will help us advance many homeland security, public
safety and research projects, especially those involving biological
sciences and infectious diseases. We want to thank Governor
Blagojevich and the state legislators for their continued support.
Because of their help, this addition also frees up labs in other
campus locations for cancer research, so we can continue to
aggressively expand the research efforts of the SimmonsCooper Cancer
Institute at SIU."
The 105,000-square-foot, five-story addition to the SIU School of
Medicine building in Springfield features the recently completed
Bio-Safety Level 3 Enhanced Lab, operated by the Illinois Department
of Public Health and the School of Medicine, on the third floor. The
second floor includes medical research laboratories used by the
School of Medicine. The facility will also feature space for a new
state police forensic lab on the top two floors.
The $30.4 million Combined Laboratory Addition project began in
December 2001, and construction was completed in late 2004. It
provided additional space for existing School of Medicine and
Department of Public Health labs that were located in the original
building at 825 N. Rutledge, and both occupied their new spaces in
July 2006. An estimated $4.8 million project will finish and equip
the fourth and part of the fifth floors for the Illinois State
Police, with construction set to begin in late 2006 and completion
by late 2007.
"Governor Blagojevich has dedicated $4.8 million for a new state
police lab that will not only ‘complete' this building, but fulfill
a vision to improve the state's laboratory services for a number of
important government agencies," said Jan Grimes, executive director
of the Capital Development Board, the agency that manages all state
construction projects.
The Illinois Department of Public Health operates the only
downstate Bio-Safety Level 3 Enhanced Lab from the building. In this
lab, carefully controlled testing is done to identify and fight
bioterrorism agents, pandemics and many communicable diseases.
Standard public health testing of food and water supplies, rabies,
and blood is also performed there in a secure environment that
places an emphasis on employee and public safety. A total of 40
highly trained personnel work in the Public Health Lab.
"The new Bio-Safety Level 3 Enhanced Lab is very important to our
emergency response efforts for bioterrorism," said Dr. Eric E.
Whitaker, director of the Illinois Department of Public Health. "We
can continue to add testing capabilities for more pathogens. It also
means there is more room, so the state's capacity to respond to a
natural (such as pandemic flu) or man-made (terrorism) event is
greater."
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 SIU School of Medicine will use space on the first, second and
third floors, including 11 research laboratories that meet
requirements for Biological Safety Level 2 labs. There is new space
for the research imaging facility, which includes electron
microscopy, and for the animal medicine unit. SIU's Department of
Medical Microbiology, Immunology and Cell Biology is now based in
the building and will expand its research in molecular biology as
part of its emphasis on gene research, post-genomic medicine and
infectious diseases.
The space will also be used for the medical school's graduate
programs in pharmacology, immunology, microbiology, biochemistry,
cell biology and physiology, including a new joint program with the
Illinois Department of Public Health offering a master's degree in
public health laboratory science.
"This new addition will help SIU School of Medicine be more
competitive for national grants because we now have additional space
for research, including new, sophisticated equipment," added Dr. J.
Kevin Dorsey, dean and provost of the medical school. "Training for
students, residents and graduate students also will benefit from
these new resources and can be expanded with additional programs
such as the new master's in public health laboratory science."
The fourth and part of the fifth floors, when complete, will be
the new home of the Illinois State Police Forensic Lab that is now
located in substandard space in a converted office building at 2040
Hill Meadows in Springfield. The new facility is being designed and
built as a laboratory with the appropriate environmental controls
and mechanical requirements necessary for modern law enforcement
use. The laboratory's 44 employees will perform DNA and biology
testing for police case work; drug chemistry; trace chemistry
analysis on items such as arson debris, paint and glass; firearms
examination, including tool marks; footwear tread pattern analysis;
document and handwriting examination; and latent fingerprint
examination.
"We are excited about moving into the new SIU Combined Laboratory
Facility in Springfield next year," said Illinois State Police
Director Larry Trent. "This state-of-the-art facility will allow us
to provide forensic services to 300 law enforcement agencies in 33
central Illinois counties and assist them in solving crimes in their
communities."
A tour of the facility coincided with Poshard's visit to the SIU
School of Medicine as part of his inaugural tour of all SIU
campuses.
[News release from the governor's
office] |
