The University of Washington School of Medicine requests funding for renovations to improve 20,419 square feet of multidisciplinary research space for NIH funded programs in Neurobiology, Developmental Biology, Vision Sciences, Molecular Structure and Structural Informatics in the Department of Biological Structure. The renovation will increase the wet and dry laboratory research space by nearly 55%, from 10,453 sq.ft. to 16,132 sq.ft. through the reorganization and relocation of office space, plus the assignment of an additional 2,859 sq. ft. of research space in the H-wing to the Department. The commitment to the Department of Biological Structure from the School of Medicine includes seven new regular faculty positions. The renovation is expected to enhance interactions between current programs by bringing collaborating scientists into contiguous space and consolidating common equipment that, in some cases, is located several floors away from the researchers who use it. The renovation will encourage new research collaboration by providing modern research space and common areas for informal discussion between scientists from different laboratories. The open laboratory design will encourage and facilitate innovative multidisciplinary approaches from the molecular to human levels of structure as the Department of Biological Structure expands research collaborations with departments, programs and centers throughout the Health Sciences and School of Medicine.
