UF cancer, genetics project to boost state’s biotech effort

University of Florida and state leaders broke ground April 5 on an $85 million campus facility that will consolidate much of the university’s cancer and genetics research under one roof.

The UF Cancer and Genetics Research Building will add to Florida’s biotechnology efforts and be a prototype for interdisciplinary research, officials say.

“I applaud the University of Florida for creating this unique facility to advance the latest applications in genetics and cancer research,” said Gov. Jeb Bush. “The cutting-edge research conducted at UF will contribute greatly to Florida’s efforts to become a center for biomedical research.”

The 280,000-square-foot facility will house the university’s Genetics Institute, the UF Shands Cancer Center, the Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research and the C.A. Pound Human Identification Laboratory. The building, expected to be an engine that breaks through traditional lines of research, should open in spring 2006.

“The greatest scientific riddles — from curing cancer to preserving biodiversity to making gene therapy work — are unlikely to be solved by scientists in a single discipline,” said Win Phillips, D.Sc., UF’s vice president for research. “This genetics and cancer research building is UF’s latest effort to facilitate the type of interdisciplinary research that will resolve these questions.”

The facility will include laboratories, animal-research facilities, faculty and administrative offices and a rooftop greenhouse.

“It will be an amazing place, chock-full of the most imaginative scientists and remarkable technology that researchers from here and throughout the world will want to use,” said Douglas Barrett, M.D., vice president for health affairs. “But beyond the physical facility, this project represents an intellectual focus extending beyond the limits of any one department or college. We envision remarkable advances in cancer research and exciting new discoveries in genetics resulting from the synergy created by bringing together researchers from each of the six Health Science Center colleges, the Institute of Food and Agricultural Sciences, the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and beyond. This project represents the very best of the University of Florida.”

The interdisciplinary partnerships the building is expected to encourage will augment existing ones. For example, the Genetics Institute harnesses the academic talents and resources of UF’s genetic research community.

“Genetics is where biological sciences are going, and along the way we will consider many ethical, sociological, economic and legal implications,” said Kenneth Berns, M.D., Ph.D., director of the UF Genetics Institute. “Collaborating with the cancer center is a very logical effort. Many of the fundamental questions of cancer and genetics research are indistinguishable — cancer is a genetic disease.”

A prime objective of the UF Shands Cancer Center is to obtain the National Cancer Institute’s prestigious designation as a comprehensive cancer center — the highest ranking a cancer center can receive. That designation is important because Florida is the nation’s fourth most populous state and has a high ranking in a variety of cancer statistical tables, said W. Stratford May Jr., M.D., Ph.D., director of the UF Shands Cancer Center.

“To me, that’s a clarion call that Florida needs more cancer centers and more research into the root causes of cancer,” May said. “Effective cancer research requires a critical mass of people to develop the necessary collaborations. This building will provide an environment suited to teamwork among cancer, genetics and biotechnology researchers.”

Meanwhile, the Interdisciplinary Center for Biotechnology Research, or ICBR — a component of UF’s Biotechnology Program that offers laboratory services such as DNA and genome sequencing and genetic analysis — will provide expertise, instrumentation and technologies to researchers.

“There’s a big excitement factor,” said Thomas E. Walsh, Ph.D., interim director of the ICBR. “We’ve always been well-coordinated, but this is an opportunity for the labs and administrative offices of the ICBR to be consolidated in a single location. There’s nothing like being able to bump into colleagues in the hallway and to be located with two of our principal customers on campus. We get immediate feedback about their programs and we can anticipate their needs.”

Likewise, Michael Martin, Ph.D., vice president for agriculture and natural resources, looks forward to the synergy that will be created in the research building.

“The faculty of UF/IFAS will play a key role in exploring and developing genetic and cell science research which can enhance Florida’s economy while protecting the environment,” Martin said. “The application of genetic research to plants, animals, human health and environmental quality is a fundamental part of the UF/IFAS mission.”

Researchers from the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences will add to the scientific exchange.

“We have very strong programs in plant genetics,” said Neil Sullivan, Ph.D., dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences. “Our botanists are leaders in the Floral Genome Project, and one of our focal points is to build that strength. In addition, included in the new genetics building is a unique DNA detection lab for forensic sciences. It will be the only forensic anthropology laboratory in the United States to perform in-house human genetics research and technology development in the United States. Its potential for research in degraded human tissue will be unmatched.”

Meanwhile, College of Medicine faculty members are eager for the project to proceed.

“Genetics is truly an interdisciplinary field and we’ve seen repeatedly that advances in one area, for example in plant genetics, have direct applications to another area, such as human genetics, and vice versa,” said Richard Moyer, Ph.D., senior associate dean for research development and professor of molecular genetics and microbiology. “It’s going to be extremely exciting to participate in melding of different genetic disciplines. Furthermore, I fully expect the science emanating from the Genetics Institute to be of direct benefit to the Cancer Center, as cancer is a complex series of diseases frequently with genetic predisposition and/or etiology.”