Expansion fuels cooperation

The MU biochemistry department hopes to foster future research and cooperation.

By Elliot Njus

Published Feb. 19, 2008

The MU biochemistry department unveiled what university representatives called a much-needed expansion to Schweitzer Hall, the department’s home, on Monday.

The $10 million project would allow faculty and staff from the department’s two schools — the College of Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources and the School of Medicine — to work more closely together, Biochemistry Chairman Gerald Hazelbauer said.

“Such cooperation is commonplace on this campus, and I’ll assure you it’s not necessarily commonplace elsewhere,” he said.

Although building the addition on the east edge of campus added to the expense due to underground utilities and the need to match the limestone used in nearby buildings, Hazelbauer said the benefits “far outweighed a little less space.”

The addition was funded through the state, but the research conducted there would be mostly funded by federal grants, Hazelbauer said.

MU Chancellor Brady Deaton was present for the ribbon-cutting ceremony and said the project was an example of teamwork between the department and university officials. He said the department represented the overall vision of life sciences research at MU.

“Our biochemistry department is one of the most outstanding in the nation in terms of extramural funding and in terms of scientific breakthroughs we have seen,” Deaton said.

The new building’s design includes a bridge connecting Schweitzer Hall and the adjacent Schlundt Annex. The bridge includes an area that was cleared to make room for the ceremony, but Hazelbauer said the space would normally contain chairs and space for students, faculty and staff to relax.

“Essentially, it’s a lounge,” Hazelbauer said. “It’s the place where people can get together.”

Hazelbauer said that social space is important to research, but that it is often too scarce to allow for it. He said space allocated for interaction is often redeveloped when more research area is needed.

“Five years later, it’s been taken over as a laboratory,” he said. “This is a place where you could never put a laboratory. It’s not been built for that. Code wouldn’t allow it.”

Biochemistry professor Tom Quinn said the new building has already enhanced interaction between researchers.

“We’re now one linked department, and I can say the benefits are realized immediately,” he said. “Interaction with colleagues, students and staff has already been noted and we can say it’s been a great success.”

The new space will also include seven new laboratories and the only nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometer in Missouri. The 800-megahertz device allows researchers to analyze molecules and proteins in much greater detail, School of Medicine Dean William Crist said.

Crist said researchers from other schools at MU would have access to the device, and that researchers from other universities would also use it.

“We can share it all across campus and with other universities as well to maximize its benefits in research,” he said. “In science, we believe in sharing because we’re all trying to work for public health. Ultimately, that’s what it’s about.”

Crist said the space would house research into Alzheimer’s disease, a degenerative disorder with no known cure.

“It’s one of the main health problems we face in this aging nation,” he said. “It’s a bigger problem now because we’ve solved a lot of other problems now, so we live long enough to experience this disease.”

Researchers in the new facility will also look into the causes of cardiovascular disease and cancer, Crist said.

“Both of these are areas where we’re becoming very, very strong,” he said.