FACILITIES CONSTRUCTION BIOCHEMISTRY RENEWAL PROJECT

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DESCRIPTION (provided by applicant): We propose renovation of 30,706 NSF of research space on the 3rd, 4th, and 5th floors of the J-wing in the Health Sciences Complex. This space has not been renovated since J-wing was completed in 1965, and represents approximately 60% of the laboratory and support space occupied by the Department of Biochemistry. The proposed renovation will facilitate NIH-funded research in the department by a thorough redesign that allows more bench workers per laboratory, greater interactions within and between laboratories, shared use of costly major equipment located in common support rooms, and flexible allocation of space as research groups grow and shrink. Although located in the School of Medicine, the Department of Biochemistry serves as a bridge between the medical and the basic sciences, and maintains a large undergraduate major as well as teaching medical students and graduate students. The research mission of the department is to understand how macromolecules carry out and regulate biological processes. Interests span the full-range from molecular biophysics to developmental biology. The renovated space would be occupied by four new assistant professors and thirteen current faculty, all of whom have NIH support. Although, many faculty are approaching retirement, the department has already begun to redress the current age imbalance by recruiting new junior faculty in anticipation of future retirements. Thus, the proposed renovation will strengthen ongoing NIH funded research programs, and enable a department with a distinguished history to attract new NIH funded faculty to an older, but essentially sound, building.