The specific aim of this application for funds is to renovate 44,525 GSF of space on the 12th floor of the Thomas E. Starzl Biomedical Science Tower (BST) to accommodate the Vascular Medicine Institute and the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy, and Critical Care Medicine at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine. The BST contains nine floors of dedicated biomedical research laboratory space. It was constructed in 1989 and suffers from aging infrastructure, deteriorating interior construction, and an outmoded layout of cloistered laboratories with no natural lighting, limited opportunities for collaborations developed through casual exchanges of ideas between research groups and sharing of resources, and no flexibility to respond to changing research priorities and instrumentation needs. The proposed renovations will create modern, open laboratory space with associated support spaces and chemical fume hood alcoves. These changes will increase the efficiency of space usage, incorporate natural lighting, modernize utility distribution systems, improve overall workflows, and create a dynamic environment for open resource sharing. The renovated space will be used to consolidate and expand research activities of the Vascular Medicine Institute (VMI) and the Division of Pulmonary, Allergy and Critical Care Medicine (PACCM), whose faculty members are currently dispersed in inadequate borrowed space across five campus buildings, impeding collaborative research efforts, sharing of scientific ideas, and recruitment of new faculty to funded positions. The requested funds, if awarded will allow: 1. Consolidation of the fragmented research activities of both the VMI and PACCM to foster collaborative research efforts;2. Recruitment of top-tier new faculty to both VMI and PACCM by offering modern and attractive research space;3. Incorporation of natural light and other sustainable design elements to reduce energy consumption and operating costs;4. Improvement of space usage efficiency and workflows;and 5. Reduction in maintenance burden and costs necessary to renovate research space to meet the needs of new faculty and emerging research directions.
