Medical Research : Development News

UPMC Cancer Centers and The University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute announced last week that they will establish The Mario Lemieux Center for Blood Diseases at The Hillman Cancer Center in Shadyside.   The center will bring cutting-edge research and treatment to the region for blood diseases in adults, serving an estimated 25,000 patients per year and with a staff of some of the best medical talent around.

The center is made possible by the successful completion of a five year, $100 million capital campaign that was kickstarted by a $20 million gift from The Hillman Foundation and matched by UPMC, bringing the total funds raised to $200 million.

"A key component in moving innovative cancer research out of the lab and into the treatment rooms, and a pillar for recruitment of world-class investigators and clinicians to Pittsburgh," says Nancy E. Davidson, director of UPCI and UPMC Cancer Centers.

The center's creation is due in part to a $3 million donation from The Mario Lemieux Foundation. "This is a new opportunity for my foundation to focus on patient care for those experiencing the same things I did during my journey with Hodgkin's disease, and I am very pleased to be a part of creating this facility," says Mario Lemieux.

The project has been tentatively planned for over a year, but UPMC Cancer Center's media relations manager, Courtney McCrimmons, says that they had to wait until the funds were secured before planning the architectural details, overall costs, and construction timelines, which should all become more concrete in the coming months.

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Writer: John Farley
Source: Courtney McCrimmons, UPMC

As part of their 12 year facilities plan that began in 2007, The University of Pittsburgh announced Monday that the Board of Trustees approved four major construction and renovation projects, as well as two lease extensions, totaling $110.5 million. In addition to creating new facilities targeting LEED certification and updating buildings for the expansion of new research opportunities, the projects are expected to create 778 construction jobs and produce $35,616 in annual property taxes.

The largest project, a $50 million addition to Salk Hall, entails building new laboratory and office spaces for the School of Dental Medicine and the School of Pharmacy. The facilities are registered to achieve LEED Silver certification and completion is expected by 2013. A $39.9 million renovation of four floors in Benedum Hall and the building of a mezzanine level will eventually accommodate laboratories and conference rooms.

A $13.9 million renovation of the Thomas E. Starzl Biomedical Science Tower will allow for the expansion of the Vascular Medicine Institute and School of Medicine's Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care. $6 million will be allocated for the renovation of Crawford and Langley Halls, where a new Department of Biological Sciences facility will be constructed, allowing bacteriologists and virologists working in those buildings to expand the scope of their research.

"A huge amount of the funds for the projects announced today came from the Commonwealth," says John Fedele, associate director of news for Pitt. "The Commonwealth allocates funding for construction and $50 million of the Salk Hall renovation comes from the Commonwealth, while $30 million was through the Commonwealth for Benedum Hall." The Starzl Tower project is being funded entirely through the National Institute of Health's National Center for Research Resources, and the majority of the funding for the Crawford and Langley Hall renovations comes from internal sources.

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Writer: John Farley
Source: John Fedele, University of Pittsburgh