The Winthrop P. Rockefeller Cancer Institute at the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences is an emerging cancer center with areas of expertise in, amongst others: personalized medicine for multiple myeloma based on gene expression profiling;pharmacogenomics and molecular epidemiology;and laser detection of circulating tumor cells. Both of the Cancer Institute's two main towers inter-mingle outpatient clinical care and research floors with floors devoted to laboratory research. With the completion of the expansion tower and the recruitment of a new physician-scientist director with expertise in leukemia translational research, the Cancer Institute is uniquely positioned to propel research-driven cancer treatment for the citizens of Arkansas and beyond. The purpose of this application is to request funds to support the build out of 33,660 net square feet of shelled space on the 9th and 11th research laboratory floors of the Cancer Institute's expansion tower. These floors will interact with newly completed translational infusion floors, and a new pharmacy devoted to investigational agents. This project was through Design Development (DD) with an innovative, collaborative, and environmentally-friendly lab space design, but lacked funding to take it further. Thus, this project can truly be regarded as """"""""shovel-ready,"""""""" and will immediately create ~125 construction and architectural jobs. Even more importantly, downstream it will enable the Cancer Institute to recruit nearly a dozen new translational research faculty, plus post-doctoral fellows, technicians, and other support staff which will speed the translation of mechanism-based, molecularly-targeted novel cancer therapeutics to the clinic.
