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The University of Tennessee Health Science Center

Chancellor Steve J. Schwab, MD, and UT President Joe DiPietro

Lead Groundbreaking for $49 Million

Translational Science Research Building

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         Interdisciplinary Science to Improve Efficiency, Speed of Research Process

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            Memphis, Tenn. (June 8, 2012) – Earlier today, Steve J. Schwab, MD, chancellor for the University of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), and UT President Joe DiPietro led the groundbreaking ceremony for the Translational Science Research Building (TSRB), the newest building to begin construction on the UTHSC main campus in Memphis. 

            “This is a seminal event for our institution because it reflects two things,” Chancellor Schwab stated, “the UTHSC commitment to active research expansion, and this is the first in a series of new construction initiatives as we transform the UTHSC campus.”  He explained, “This building, as with the multi-discipline Cancer Research Building, which stands adjacent to this construction site, will also be a multi-discipline research facility.  It will house investigators from all colleges and departments, working on cardiovascular disease.  More than 40 investigators will work together in the Translational Science Research Building on advances in heart and blood vessel disease.”

            The TSRB will be a four-story, 135,000-square-foot structure that reflects the same layout as the UTHSC Cancer Research Building.  TSRB laboratories will be designed using an open format with an interior hallway connecting each of the labs on a given floor.  The connectivity allows researchers easy access to common equipment and to each other.  Elevated walkways on the second, third and fourth floors of the new building will connect the TSRB with the Cancer Research Building.  TSRB construction will begin immediately.  The building is expected to open in fall 2013.   

            “UT does three things very well,” observed President DiPietro.  “We educate, we discover and we connect.  Looking at education, discovery and connecting, no place is more important than the Health Science Center in keeping Tennessee healthy.  They generate solutions from this research enterprise…solutions that extend from the laboratory to the patient in the hospital, to a baby in a pediatrician’s office or to a cardiovascular surgeon in the operating room.  It is heartening to see how the work they do here translates into helping those who have life-threatening diseases.”

            “There is nothing that more uniquely demonstrates the contribution of UTHSC to the city of Memphis and our region than a new research building,” noted David M. Stern, MD, executive dean for the UTHSC College of Medicine and vice chancellor for Clinical Affairs.  “Research and innovation are central to the values of the university.  The construction of a new research building personifies the commitment of the university to our city.  It is an investment in research and innovation for years to come.  We are worthy of this investment and will realize the potential of this building to make all of our stakeholders proud.”

            “Health care has such a significant impact on the city,” said Shelby County Mayor Mark Luttrell.  “The UT Health Science Center brings more than $100 million to the community every year.  These economic development and education-advancing initiatives bring the best and the brightest to the community and help us retain these professionals.  UT is part of the solution to many of today’s challenges in health care.  I know this institution will continue to be a force for good in our community.”

            As the flagship statewide academic health system, the mission of the University of Tennessee Health Science Center is to bring the benefits of the health sciences to the achievement and maintenance of human health, with a focus on the citizens of Tennessee and the region, by pursuing an integrated program of education, research, clinical care, and public service.  In 2011, UT Health Science Center celebrated its centennial: 100 years advancing the future of health care.  Offering a broad range of postgraduate training opportunities, the main UTHSC campus is located in Memphis and includes six colleges: Allied Health Sciences, Dentistry, Graduate Health Sciences, Medicine, Nursing and Pharmacy.  The UTHSC campus in Knoxville includes a College of Medicine, College of Pharmacy, and an Allied Health Sciences unit.  In addition, the UTHSC Chattanooga campus includes a College of Medicine and an Allied Health Sciences unit.  Since its founding in 1911, UTHSC has educated and trained more than 53,000 health care professionals on campuses and in health care facilities across the state.  For more information, visit www.uthsc.edu.

 

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