Tuskegee University is one step closer to becoming a globally renowned center of excellence in cancer genomics focused on health disparities in underrepresented populations thanks to a $7.93 million grant to build a new biomedical annex to the Carver Research Center facility.
The grant proposal, authored by Dr. Clayton Yates, director of the Center for Biomedical Research, and Dr. Channapatna Prakash, dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, received one of the highest scores possible of any institution that entered the national competition involving all major research universities. The competition was funded by the NIH Biomedical Research Facility for the Center for Geonomics Health Disparity Research.
“Tuskegee has a long, rich history as an advocate for research and healthcare for the underserved community,” said Dr. Charlotte P. Morris, Tuskegee University president. “What this grant will do by funding a new facility to support our work around cancer research cannot be understated. Tuskegee’s efforts to understand cancer genomics will impact generations within this community and beyond.”
“This is the first time TU has received an infrastructure grant of this size in a competitive arena and only the second science building to be built in the past 30 years and a third one in the past 70 years,” said Dr. Prakash. “This building will be transformational in providing a 21st century science setting for our cancer genomics research and will help attract top talent as well.”
The 8,600-square-foot biomedical research building will house Tuskegee scientists focusing on computational and genomics related to health disparities. The proposed facility will expand the number of research faculty, students (graduate and undergrad) and post-doctoral fellows engaged in health disparities and biomedical research at Tuskegee. Construction is expected to begin in Summer of 2023 and will be completed by Spring of 2025.
The research quality will be significantly enhanced due to the state-of-the-art laboratory and supporting spaces from a quantity and quality perspective. The open-floor lab design will allow the university to foster an intellectual environment that encourages scientists to work together in an integrative and interactive fashion that leverages various faculty strengths.
“This award is recognition for the dedicated effort of the faculty, staff and students within the Center for Biomedical Research (CBR) to eradicate health disparities, particularly in Alabama Black Belt,” said Dr. Yates. “We further envision that the new annex will facilitate increased publications, proposal submissions and partnerships and collaborations with other institutions, agencies and the private sector. Students, particularly African Americans and other underrepresented minorities, will receive training to become excellent biomedical research scientists, significantly benefitting from this state-of-the-art enhancement.”
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