The NCRR ARRA C06 program provides an opportunity to build a disease research focused laboratory facility at Purdue University. The proposed 'Multidisciplinary Cancer Research Facility'(MCRF) will co-locate Purdue Center for Cancer Research (CCR) investigators from diverse departments and disciplines for collaborative, transdisciplinary research that will build capabilities for generation of innovative animal models of disease, development of new therapeutics, and in vivo animal imaging - a critical unmet need for disease researchers at Purdue. The facility will include a modern animal imaging suite that will accommodate a 9.4 Tesla 40cm bore Magnetic Resonance Imager, Single Photon Emmission Computer Tomography/ Computer Tomography (SPECT/CT), and multimodal (including fluorescence and x-ray) whole animal imaging system;all in the proposed facility vivarium with barrier function that will also house the successful CCR transgenic mouse production operation. The MCRF is a proposed ~29,000 gross square feet addition to the Bindley Bioscience Center (BBC) in Purdue's hub for multidisciplinary research, Discovery Park (DP). MCRF facility research will provide a complement to, and will benefit from, established BBC capabilities in biophysical and biomolecular analyses, conventional cell imaging and separation, and high throughput screening technologies. In addition, the MCRF will connect with the Birck Nanotechnology Center for nanomedicine capabilities. Laboratories in the MCRF will adopt the DP shared space policy and will be organized by function to serve multiple investigators and projects simultaneously. Laboratories are planned for cancer cell biology, thereapeutic and medical device development, cell-based screening, medicinal chemistry, and next generation imaging. The proposed building addition will build on strengths at Purdue University in cancer research, engineering, chemistry and instrumentation, and veterinary medicine, with a disease research-focused, multidisciplinary facility for biomedical research. Research progress in cancer and other diseases is augmented by multidisciplinary approaches that bring efficiency and innovation to the search for better understanding of disease, as well as better diagnostics and therapeutics. The MCRF will extend Purdue's excellence in biomedical multidisciplinary research.
