Contact
Stephanie Fleming
(573) 882-8353
sfleming@missouri.edu
Columbia, Mo.— The Board of Curators on Thursday approved five new projects at the -Columbia and -Kansas City that will create more than 225,000 square feet of research space. These projects will focus on agriculture, health sciences and clinical spaces for autism treatment. The new and expanded facilities will benefit every Missouri citizen as researchers will have better facilities to search for solutions to the challenges facing agriculture and human health.
“These state-of-the-art facilities will complement the research that our renowned faculty conduct every day at our universities,” said Robin Wenneker, UM Board of Curators vice chair. “Investments in infrastructure projects like these will build on the strong foundations of agriculture and health expertise as we continue to move our universities forward.”
The projects at MU expand research and clinical facilities. The project at UMKC will improve education, research and patient care within the Health Sciences District with the construction of a new facility.
“The research conducted at our universities improves the lives of Missourians and beyond,” said Mun Choi, UM President. “Expanding agricultural research facilities, increasing capacity for patient care and the new health care building at UMKC will have a transformational impact on the communities we serve.”
National Swine Resource and Research Center
The National Swine Resource and Research Center (NSRRC) will double its animal housing capacity and expand swine genetic lines with a 12,220-square-foot expansion.
The NSRRC is the only National Institutes of Health-funded swine resource center to develop and supply swine models to biomedical fields. For nearly 20 years, the NSRRC has developed the infrastructure to ensure that biomedical investigators across multiple disciplines have access to critical models for human health and disease. Swine models from MU are making unprecedented contributions toward unraveling the molecular basis of human disease and developing new therapeutic strategies.
The $8 million project will be funded by a grant from the NIH with just over $30,000 from the university. The expansion is expected to be complete in the spring of 2025.
Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment
The Thompson Center for Autism and Neurodevelopment will build a new facility to provide approximately 74,000 square feet of space to house all aspects of the center under one roof, including clinical diagnostic and intervention services, translational research and training initiatives. The new facility will expand access to appointments with additional clinic space to accommodate more clinicians, development of new types of spaces for observation to enhance research opportunities and provide integrated training space in the facility that will serve both internal providers and others involved in the specialties that serve individuals, families and communities.
The $55 million project is funded by $27.5 million in state appropriations, $15 million in gifts and $12.5 million in university funds. Completion is expected in December 2025.
Middlebush Farm—NextGen Center for Influenza Research Phase II
The NextGen Center for Influenza Research will construct its Phase II addition. The center has garnered more than $15 million in NIH and Centers for Disease Control funding over the last two years, and investing in the program area is a component of MizzouFoward.
The current building provides specialized laboratory space for innovative research related to replicating a variety of climates, including facilities with temperature and humidity control to produce extreme conditions. This type of space is rare in the country—making it an important attribute when competing for grants.
The project will add 8,300-squa