Research Facilities
Clinical and Translational Research Building (CTRB)
The CTRB was the first phase of a design that created a front door for the University of Louisville’s East Medical Research Complex, located on the Health Sciences Campus.
The building features laboratory space for research that has potential for clinical and translational applications, particularly cancer research. The CTRB provides flexible and adaptable state-of-the-art biomedical research facilities, designed to promote interdisciplinary collaboration between scientists working in the building. Its core laboratories include flow cytometry, micro-array, advanced diagnostic imaging services and a tumor bank.
The $143 million facility supports approximately 650 principal investigators, laboratory staff and support personnel.
The Donald E. Baxter Biomedical Research Building &
The Delia B. Baxter Biomedical Research Building
These twin, state-of-the-art buildings combine to provide more than 260,000 square feet of research support, particularly oncology research.
The shared ground level houses an adaptable seminar room and vivarium. Each of the other four levels in each building consists of two “pods” or wings joined by common areas.
Each pod houses six laboratories and six offices. Each of the buildings’ 650-square-foot wet labs has a dedicated 125-square-foot support lab. Building designers grouped researchers’ offices together to encourage interaction, a departure from the traditional one office, one lab arrangement. The location of common conference and break rooms also fosters interaction.
The buildings have a state-of-the-art ventilation control system that maintains proper air pressurization and ensures that air is not mixed between labs, protecting the integrity of laboratory research from contamination by other labs. All of the laboratories are equipped with specialized computer stations, where lab technicians can record information, and are located on window walls that provide abundant natural light.
Molecular Imaging Research Center (MIRC)
The Molecular Imaging Research Center, housed in a 13,500-square-foot wing of the James Graham Brown Cancer Center, boasts state-of-the art equipment that allows physicians to precisely locate developing cancer tissue, study the effectiveness of prescribed treatments and, ultimately, develop new drugs to stop cancer in its tracks.
The MIRC features three complementary components: a PET/CT scanner to view living tissue, a cyclotron to create isotopes needed for PET/CT imaging, and two nuclear magnetic resonance spectrometers to study the three-dimensional structures of molecules.
Stem Cell Biology Laboratory
The Stem Cell Biology Laboratory is 6,000 square feet and houses the most advanced technologic research equipment in its field. The Stem Cell Biology Program is part of the Developmental Biology Program. It was initiated when Dr. Mariusz Ratajczak was recruited to the James Graham Brown Cancer Center from the University of Pennsylvania in 2001.
Research activities have focused on the biology and behavior of normal tissue-committed stem cells, or TCSC. Dr. Ratajczak and his team have identified cells drawn from adult bone marrow that seem to behave like embryonic stem cells. They are called very small embryonic-like (VSEL) stem cells, and the researchers have shown that, in the lab, they can give rise to functional nerve, heart and pancreatic cells. They have also shown that the cells can be expanded in vitro and that cells isolated from culture maintain their “replenishment” capabilities.
Research facilities at the James Graham Brown Cancer Center
Currently there is 7,000 square feet of laboratory space and researcher office space on the fourth floor of the Cancer Center. In keeping with the JGBCC’s theme to promote translational research in every facet of our design, having cancer researchers present inside the Brown Cancer Center building promotes interdisciplinary collaboration with the physicians in the building treating patients.
University of Louisville Health Sciences Center Master Plan
The James Graham Brown Cancer Center is a key component of the University of Louisville’s Health Sciences Center and UofL Health Care. The building of new research facilities, such as the CTRB, are part of UoL’s Health Sciences Center Master Plan. UofL has embarked on a Master Plan that will change the physical environment and infrastructure needs over the next two decades to ensure that continues to build and maintain a world-class academic medical center. Learn more about the Master Plan at UoL’s Health Sciences Center website.
Shared Facilities
A number of research programs at the Brown Cancer Center require the use of technologies and facilities suitable for cellular and molecular level investigation. Prudence dictates that these technologies and facilities be of the highest order but not be unnecessarily duplicated for each research group. These technologies have been established at Brown Cancer Center as distinct core research shared facilities.
List of Shared Research Facilities: