University Of Nevada-Reno receives $3M Congressional Directives grant from the Health Resources and Services Administration

University of Nevada cancer research center - the objective of the proposed construction is to enable the development of a cutting-edge Nevada cancer research center housed within a modern, open-design laboratory space and to collocate research cores and state-of-the-art equipment currently dispersed across the university of Nevada reno (unr) medi-cal school campus. Unr is the state’s first land grant institution, and as an institution of emerging excellence (iee), it has a singular imperative to meet the needs of the residents of the state strategically and effectively. The survival of patients with cancer in Nevada is vastly divergent from neighboring western states and there-fore, the need to improve the infrastructure for our research programs and expand preclinical investigations to include cancer justifies the proposed construction project. Establishment of the Nevada cancer research center will allow unr to build upon its history of biomedical research excellence and transform its impact on the state and contributions to human health. The success of this project is bolstered by our recent partnership with renown health and the healthy Nevada population genomics project (hnp), which are critical elements for expanding our clinical investigations in oncology and for developing and growing patient sample-based preclinical biomedical research. The newly constructed facility will provide critical infrastructure and allow unr school of medicine to further its iee mandate by building a state-of-the-art oncology research program, an underrepresented priority area. This emerging research area is in direct response to prevalent rates of cancer, an urgent health disparity that results in the death of more than 5,400 nevadans each year. As de-scribed in the project description, the construction is designed within the context of the existing anderson health sciences building but with the introduction of new, up-to-date materials that are in keeping with the newer building and design guidelines of the unr campus master plan. By strategically renovating existing facilities and leveraging current campus infrastructure, including electrical, sewer, gas, and storm drainage systems, the project maximizes value while minimizing construction impacts and costs. Modern mechanical, electrical, and plumbing systems will be installed to support advanced research technologies and sophisti-cated laboratory equipment, ensuring the facility meets the needs of current and future investigators. This new space will have the capacity to support more than fifty active researchers and trainees by providing a consoli-dated location for research cores, including cell and tissue analyses, single cell molecular expression, and for planned shared resources such as tissue banking and comprehensive cell culture facilities. The resources housed within this new facility will be available to researchers in the entire state of Nevada and at collaborat-ing institutions, thereby significantly enhancing the impact of the project.