MU leaders break ground on health research facility
Missouri civic and educational leaders hope a new health research facility will become a force for medical research in the country.
The university held a formal groundbreaking ceremony for the NextGen Precision Medical Institute, formerly known as the Translational Precision Medical Complex. Construction of the $220 million facility is already underway at the corner of Hospital Drive and Virginia Avenue.
University leaders anticipate the NGPMI opening in fall 2021. Faculty and staff from multiple schools including medicine, engineering, veterinary medicine, health and environmental science and arts & science will work in the building to help design and research products to be used in the medical field, such as diagnostics and pharmaceuticals.
Mark McIntosh, University of Missouri’s vice chancellor for research and economic development, said he hopes the new facility attracts larger research grants to the school and four-campus UM System. The collaboration of several schools, he said, may interest groups that offer grant funding, such as the National Institutes of Health.
“You put those people together in the same facility, and they come up with much better ideas than a single sub-discipline would come up with by itself,” McIntosh said.
MU continues to bring in more money to the school through grant funding. Records from the school show that it has received more than $249 million through grants since July 1, 2018. Many were disbursements made from grants won several years ago. The school’s budget shows that it expects a 6 percent increase in grant funding next fiscal year, largely driven by MU’s work. McIntosh said the $218 million budgeted in grant funding was a conservative estimate for next year.
Funding for the construction of the NextGen building will come from five different broad sources – the state of Missouri, MU, the UM System, the federal government and private businesses. The state budget this year includes $10 million, and the university hopes to secure another $10 million next year. Both the university and the UM System plan to commit $50 million each, while the Department of Veterans Affairs will pay $65 million over 20 years. McIntosh said the school is still working on fundraising $75 million to $100 million through donations.
