UGA Moving Forward With Center for Molecular Medicine

It's a $25 million project, one designed to further advance the many existing research enterprises already underway at the University of Georgia and to take research discoveries from "bench to bedside," says David Lee, UGA's VP for Research.

The Center for Molecular Medicine will focus on the cellular level of human disease, Lee told President Morehead's cabinet on Wednesday. The National Institutes of Health in 2013 awarded UGA millions in research money to study infectious disease, parasites, glycomedicine, substance abuse prevention and health disparities. 

Recently, NIH has given $10.4 million for glyobiology research; $33 million to UGA/Emory/Yerkes/CDC for influenza study; $20 million to UGA/Emory/Georgia Tech/Yerkes/CDC to "dive into malaria pathogens-hot interactions; $10 million for family research; and $9.2 million for stem cell manipulation. 

Lee wants to expand NIH funded research and translate research to medicine. He wants to recruit senior researchers who focus on the molecular basis of new vaccines, regenerative medicine and models of human diseases.

The Center for Molecular Medicine, like the Center for Complex Carbohydrate Research, will have its own faculty lines and will receive the indirect costs of grants--which will give it more money and make it autonomous. Two scientists have already been hired, Fikri Avci, who studies vaccines, and Hang Yin, who is working on reprogramming fat cells.

Lee told the cabinet he envisions the new center being built adjacent to the existing Center for Complex Carbohydrate Research. Chancellor Hank Huckaby likes the project, he said.