SW Missouri News

The University of Missouri Board of Curators on Thursday approved five new projects at the University of Missouri-Columbia and University of Missouri-Kansas City that will create more than 225,000 square feet of research space. These projects will focus on agriculture, health sciences and clinical spaces for autism treatment. The new and expanded facilities will benefit every Missouri citizen as researchers will have better facilities to search for solutions to the challenges facing agriculture and human health.

“These state-of-the-art facilities will complement the research that our renowned faculty conduct every day at our universities,” said Robin Wenneker, UM Board of Curators vice chair. “Investments in infrastructure projects like these will build on the strong foundations of agriculture and health expertise as we continue to move our universities forward.”

The projects at MU expand research and clinical facilities. The project at UMKC will improve education, research and patient care within the Health Sciences District with the construction of a new facility.

“The research conducted at our universities improves the lives of Missourians and beyond,” said Mun Choi, UM President. “Expanding agricultural research facilities, increasing capacity for patient care and the new health care building at UMKC will have a transformational impact on the communities we serve.”

National Swine Resource and Research Center

The National Swine Resource and Research Center (NSRRC) will double its animal housing capacity and expand swine genetic lines with a 12,220-square-foot expansion.

The NSRRC is the only National Institutes of Health-funded swine resource center to develop and supply swine models to biomedical fields. For nearly 20 years, the NSRRC has developed the infrastructure to ensure that biomedical investigators across multiple disciplines have access to critical models for human health and disease. Swine models from MU are making unprecedented contributions toward unraveling the molecular basis of human disease and developing new therapeutic strategies.

The $8 million project will be funded by a grant from the NIH with just over $30,000 from the university. The expansion is expected to be complete in the spring of 2025.

Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment

The Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment will build a new facility to provide approximately 74,000 square feet of space to house all aspects of the center under one roof, including clinical diagnostic and intervention services, translational research and training initiatives. The new facility will expand access to appointments with additional clinic space to accommodate more clinicians, development of new types of spaces for observation to enhance research opportunities and provide integrated training space in the facility that will serve both internal providers and others involved in the specialties that serve individuals, families and communities.

The $55 million project is funded by $27.5 million in state appropriations, $15 million in gifts and $12.5 million in university funds. Completion is expected in December 2025.

Middlebush Farm—NextGen Center for Influenza Research Phase II

The NextGen Center for Influenza Research will construct its Phase II addition. The center has garnered more than $15 million in NIH and Centers for Disease Control funding over the last two years, and investing in the program area is a component of MizzouFoward.

The current building provides specialized laboratory space for innovative research related to replicating a variety of climates, including facilities with temperature and humidity control to produce extreme conditions. This type of space is rare in the country—making it an important attribute when competing for grants.

The project will add 8,300-square-feet to enhance capacity and increase research in influenza and infectious disease. The $7.5 million project will be funded by Federal Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) grant and $2.5 million from state and university funds. Completion is expected in the spring of 2025.

South Farm Swine Research and Education Facility Addition

The project will add approximately 12,000 square feet to the existing facility, which was completed in spring 2022. The expansion will allow the South Farm facility to double animal housing capacity. The facility provides critical animal space to accommodate the research programs of faculty in large animal genetic engineering and will support the NSRRC and the Center for Somatic Cell Gene Editing.

The project will be funded by a $5 million grant from HRSA; completion of the project is expected in January 2025.

Healthcare Innovation and Delivery Building at UMKC

The construction of a new Health Sciences Building with 120,000-square-feet on the UMKC Health Science Campus will serve all UMKC Health Science programs, focusing specifically on the needs of the School of Dentistry—the only dental school in the state—and the School of Medicine.

The UMKC Health Science District (HSD) brings together 12 public and private partners in an 18-block region that support the growth of rural interprofessional health education programs through shared expertise, resources, and personnel to present opportunities for collaboration on research, grants, and community outreach.

The $120 million project is funded by $80 million from state appropriations and $40 million from gifts. Expected completion is May 2026.

Original source can be found here.