Purdue News

December 5, 2000 NIH grant boosts $6 million upgrade of pharmacy facilities WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A grant from the National Institutes of Health will help boost research efforts and opportunities for students in Purdue University's School of Pharmacy and Pharmacal Sciences. The National Center for Research Resources of the National Institutes of Health has awarded $2,975,420 to Purdue to be used for renovating laboratories that support NIH-sponsored research in the Robert E. Heine Pharmacy Building. Combined with matching funds from Purdue, the grant will be used to upgrade more than 20 laboratories used by student researchers in pharmacy, chemistry and biology. The newly upgraded labs will be built with safety in mind while allowing more space for students and faculty, said Marc Loudon, associate dean of Purdue's pharmacy school and principal investigator for the renovation project. "This is an large undertaking, but Purdue is recognized as one of the top pharmacy schools in the nation, and these renovations are essential to keep our school on the forefront of education and research," Loudon said. "The new facilities will also ensure that we continue to attract high-caliber students, faculty and researchers in this field." The overall project is the outgrowth of more than five years of comprehensive planning and is designed to help meet the growing demand for pharmacy graduates and research, Loudon said. "These laboratories were built in 1969, and simply don't provide adequate ventilation and space for the number of people we now serve," Loudon said. "In addition, many of our student researchers now work in groups, and some of these laboratories were designed to hold only one or two people." The new design will eliminate and combine many small laboratories on the second, third, fourth and fifth floors of the building, and replace them with large laboratories that provide additional safety features, such as extra fume hoods and vented cabinets for chemical storage. The new laboratories also will have separate space allocated for offices and computers use, so students can carry studies to a location outside the laboratory. Heating, ventilation, and air conditioning facilities in the building also will be upgraded. The first step of the four-phase renovation is underway, Loudon said. Next spring, approximately 10 faculty members and 50 student researchers will be relocated on campus during construction. The actual construction of the new facilities is scheduled to begin next summer and is expected to be completed by 2003. The NIH funds came to Purdue as the result of two proposals to NCRR, one for $999,995 in 1999, and the second for $1,975,425 in 2000. Two separate proposals were required because of limitations in funds available in each of the two grant cycles, said Loudon, who worked closely with Owen J. Cooks of the Facilities Planning Department at Purdue to develop the proposals. "The grants are very competitive, and we had to go back and submit our proposals several times before the award was made," Loudon said. "In the end, it was very worthwhile, because getting a matching-fund grant of this type allows Purdue to stretch its dollar and carry out the needed renovations at half the cost than would otherwise be possible." NIH-sponsored research in the School of Pharmacy amounts to more than $3 million annually, Loudon said. "The level and quality of our NIH-supported programs was a big positive in NCRR's decision to award this grants," he said. Source: Marc Loudon, (765) 494-1462, marc.loudon.1@purdue.edu Writer: Susan Gaidos, (765) 494-2081; sgaidos@purdue.edu Purdue News Service: (765) 494-2096; purduenews@purdue.edu To the Purdue News and Photos Page