Purdue invests in One Health, from making medicines to advancing chemistry, along America’s Hard Tech Corridor 

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. — Purdue University has announced a series of new degrees, a synergistic faculty recruitment initiative in the advanced chemistry ecosystem, and a Learning and Training Center in Eli Lilly and Company’s new Medicine Foundry in the LEAP District, all of which underscore the university’s commitment to the One Health Initiative — a bold vision of uniting research and innovation across human, animal and plant health.

Across four departments in four colleges, by both talent and innovation pipelines, Purdue has one of the largest and best chemistry ecosystems in the U.S. for a broad range of impactful applications. Advanced chemistry explores complex chemical systems, specialized techniques and cutting-edge applications that can lead to new economic equations, from energy efficiency in pharmaceutical development and manufacturing to AI and automation enabled to help patients.

“Today Eli Lilly and Company, one of world’s largest medicine companies and headquartered in Indianapolis, breaks ground on the largest manufacturing facility in our state at LEAP District, anchoring America’s Hard Tech Corridor. LEAP District is half an hour from both the northern and southern ends of our main campus. Purdue is excited to contribute to the Learning and Training Center in Lilly Medicine Foundry at LEAP for pharmaceutical and chemical ecosystems,” said Purdue President Mung Chiang. “Advancing the frontiers of chemistry is particularly essential to scale up the onshoring of health, medicine and technology to the United States. By investing in advanced chemistry education, research and industry partnership throughout the corridor, Purdue helps drive innovation in pharmaceuticals, improve patient outcomes and shape the future of health care.”

Education

Already one of the largest sources of talent pipeline in related fields, Purdue will offer three new degrees, including:

• Dual BS/MS degree in advanced chemistry to advance clean chemistry principles, preparing graduates to design efficient, scalable solutions that reduce waste and energy to help modernize domestic chemical and pharmaceutical manufacturing
• Professional master’s in advanced pharmaceutical engineering to address the emerging problems of pharmaceutical production
• Biomolecular design — a joint science major across chemistry, computer science and biology — emphasizing discovery and manipulation of new biochemical molecules, which requires an understanding of biochemical systems, analysis technologies and AI-driven prediction. Students will be prepared to design molecules for targeted drug delivery, personalized medicine and climate-resistant plants.

Faculty recruiting

The synergistic faculty recruitment initiative will seek interdisciplinary hires in the fields of chemistry, chemical engineering, biochemistry and medical chemistry/molecular pharmacology. This strategic initiative will continue to position Purdue as a global leader in clean and sustainable chemistry innovations for onshoring critical chemicals and materials for pharmaceutical manufacturing and beyond. 

This initiative will drive innovation at the interface of chemistry, chemical engineering, biochemistry and computing, aiming to: 

• Advance chemical and biochemical processes that are safe, efficient and cost-effective 
• Enable onshoring of pharmaceutical production through safe, clean, efficient technologies 
• Integrate transformative business strategies into more efficient manufacturing models 

The faculty members will focus on advanced chemical and biochemical processes that reduce waste and enable onshoring of pharmaceutical production through clean, efficient technologies.

Examples of expertise the program will emphasize include:

• Advanced chemical synthesis, catalysis, process chemistry and chemistry enabling technologies
• AI and automation for predictive modeling for chemical design and robotic platforms for chemistry discovery
• Advanced metrology and process quality assurance for precision instrumentation and AI-driven real-time anomaly detection and predictive maintenance

“We will study how best to integrate Purdue’s advanced chemistry facilities across chemistry-specific departments and related units,” said Patrick Wolfe, provost and executive vice president for academic affairs and diversity. “Advanced chemistry degrees offer students the chance to engage with cutting-edge tools like AI, automation and sustainable synthesis methods and will prepare them for multiple scientific disciplines.”

Facilities

Having served as a central partner in Indiana’s growing life sciences sector, Purdue will execute the commitment for a new pharmaceutical training facility developed in collaboration with Lilly. The facility, part of Lilly’s $9 billion investment in the LEAP District, will provide hands-on workforce development in biotechnology and pharmaceutical manufacturing, positioning Purdue as a key driver of talent and innovation in the state’s Hard-Tech Corridor.

“The strength of our advanced chemistry and life sciences programs lies in their ability to translate cutting-edge research into real-world impact,” said Lucy Flesch, the Frederick L. Hovde Dean of the College of Science. “Through our new pharmaceutical training facility in partnership with Lilly, Purdue students will train on industry-grade technologies and processes, preparing them for careers in the critical fields of pharmaceutical manufacturing, biotechnology and health care.”

Purdue is also launching a study of a research building for both life science and advanced chemistry and related fields. It will be the top fundraising priority for research facilities in the recently launched “Victories and Heroes: Your Campaign for Purdue.”

Purdue’s many cutting-edge existing facilities across the university will not only generate high-impact research and serve as a hub for collaboration with industry on campus but will also prepare students to face real-world challenges and gain practical experience through hands-on learning. This interdisciplinary research and workforce training ecosystem includes the High Throughput Experimentation Catalysis Center in the College of Engineering; the DESI (desorption electrospray ionization) facility within the Institute for Drug Discovery; and the Center for AI Autonomous Materials Discovery and the AI-guided Drug Discovery and Automation Center, both in the Department of Chemistry.  

Purdue also broke ground in November for the future $160 million Nursing and Pharmacy Education Building. The approximately 186,000-square-foot building for the School of Nursing and College of Pharmacy will be located at the corner of Mitch Daniels Boulevard and Russell Street. It will advance collaborative, innovative learning for health care professionals in Indiana.

Other Purdue investments in One Health previously announced:

• Purdue professor Philip Low and his wife, Joan, will donate $20 million over the next five years to support the recently announced Low Institute for Therapeutics. LIFT will work toward accelerating lifesaving therapeutics from the lab and into the world by funding necessary early-stage trials in partnership with Purdue University and Purdue Research Foundation. Low is Purdue’s Presidential Scholar for Drug Discovery, the Ralph C. Corley Distinguished Professor of Chemistry in the College of Science, and a faculty member in the Purdue Institute for Drug Discovery and the Purdue Institute for Cancer Research.

• In April the university received a $20 million commitment from Greg (BS pharmacy ’99) and Amy Baker to support research in a new center within the College of Pharmacy. The facility will be called the Center for Health Analytics and Therapeutic Intelligence and will leverage real-world data, artificial intelligence and advanced analytics to revolutionize the way medications are studied, evaluated and applied.

• A donation from Bill Young (BS chemical engineering ’66), a pioneer in pharmaceutical and biotechnology manufacturing, led to the establishment of the William D. and Sherry L. Young Institute for the Advanced Manufacturing of Pharmaceuticals at Purdue. The institute unites faculty in overhauling pharmaceutical manufacturing with a goal of reducing costs and expanding access to innovative drugs emerging from biotechnology research.

• In May 2024 Purdue announced the development of the One Health Innovation District in downtown Indianapolis. In partnership with Elanco Animal Health Inc., the district is envisioned as a globally recognized research hub.

• In January, Purdue announced an academic-industry consortium — in partnership with Lilly and Merck & Co. Inc. — to revolutionize pharmaceutical manufacturing with a focus on advanced aseptic processing technology.

• The opening of the $24 million Life Science Ranges Phenotyping Greenhouse Building is planned for this summer. The facility will expand opportunities for noninvasive sensor-based phenotyping and add nearly 5,000 square feet of greenhouse research space.

About Purdue University 

Purdue University is a public research university leading with excellence at scale. Ranked among top 10 public universities in the United States, Purdue discovers, disseminates and deploys knowledge with a quality and at a scale second to none. More than 107,000 students study at Purdue across multiple campuses, locations and modalities, including more than 58,000 at our main campus in West Lafayette and Indianapolis. Committed to affordability and accessibility, Purdue’s main campus has frozen tuition 14 years in a row. See how Purdue never stops in the persistent pursuit of the next giant leap — including its comprehensive urban expansion, the Mitch Daniels School of Business, Purdue Computes and the One Health initiative — at https://www.purdue.edu/president/strategic-initiatives.