Minutes of WSU School of Medicine Research Development Committee (RDC)
Friday March 2, 2012, Room 1140 Scott Hall
Present at the meeting (indicated by checkmark):
Chair
_X_ Donal O’Leary, PhD
Standing members:
_√_ Peter Baumann, MD, MPA
_X_ Matthew Galloway, PhD
_√_ David Gorski, MD
___ John Kamholz, MD
_√_ Hyeong-Reh Kim, PhD
_√_ Renu Kowluru, PhD
_X_ Lawrence Lash, PhD
_√_ Adhip Majumdar, PhD
___ Kathleen Meert, MD
_X_ Dawn Misra, PhD
Executive Committee Liaison
_√_ Daniel Walz, PhD
_√_ Patrick Mueller, PhD
_√_ T. R. Reddy, PhD
_√_ Sandra Rempel, PhD
_√_ Noreen Rossi, MD (served as acting Chair)
_√_ Melissa Runge-Morris, PhD
_√_ Timothy Stemmler, PhD
_√_ Robert Welch, MD
___ Derek Wildman, PhD
___ Kezhong Zhang, PhD
X denotes prior notice given for absence
OVPR Committee Liasion
___ Joseph Dunbar, PhD
Guest(s):
None
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------Dr. Rossi began the meeting at 9:31 a.m. by asking the committee if they had any questions
regarding the minutes of the last RDC meeting. There were no questions or comments. The
minutes are posted on the Faculty Senate webpage for future reference.
The major agenda item of the meeting was for Dr. Walz to provide the committee an update on
the Multidisciplinary Medical Research Building (MBRB).
Dr. Walz delivered a PowerPoint presentation outlining several aspects of the MBRB including
the rationale; design; location; and timeframe of construction and occupancy. The presentation
is attached as an addendum to these minutes courtesy of Dr. Walz.
The MBRB is being built in response to a need for the University to expand and invest in the
research infrastructure. Dr. Walz provided a graph that indicated the decline in WSU’s NSF
research rank over the past 10 years that was coincident with a leveling off of research
expenditures by the University. Specifically during this time the NIH budget was doubling and
WSU did not build any new buildings and did not hire very many new faculty.
The new MBRB will be a hybrid facility of approximately 200,000 square feet of both wet (~60%)
and dry (~40%) laboratory space. It will house a number of research themes and will be based
on team and thematic based research. Proposed research themes include: Cardiovascular
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Disease; Metabolic Disorders including Diabetes and Obesity; Systems Biology; Bioinformatics
and Computational Biology; Behavioral Translational Science; and Biomedical Engineering.
The building will be located at a site adjacent to Tech town and bordered by Amsterdam (north),
Woodward (east), Cass (south) and Burroughs (south). The location is designed to facilitate a
partnership with Henry Ford Health Systems (HFHS) who will occupy approximately 15,000
square feet in the building. Although the MBRB will be focused on team based research, it will
still have the individual R01-funded PI as its foundation. The academic administrative structure
will be supported by the newly formed Department of Clinical and Translational Science.
The emphasis of the MBRB on team science and theme based research raised concerns about
promotion and tenure issues including how Co-Investigators, especially clinicians, would be
given appropriate credit. Resident investigators in the MBRB could expect to be reviewed for
productivity and accountability. It was suggested that Dr. Sonnino (Vice Dean of Faculty Affairs)
be consulted with on this matter in terms of how faculty would be reviewed and given
appropriate credit. Furthermore, it was suggested that incentives need to be provided to clinical
departments to hire clinical research faculty.
The University has an expected commitment from the state of $30 million and the MBRB is high
on the Governor’s list of approval items. The state made a non-binding pledge to the University
about four years ago so it is expected they will follow through with the funds. Dr. Walz also
pointed out that the $30 million from the state will be the last money received in the budget.
Dr. Walz reviewed the specifications and layout of the MBRB. The proposed footprint includes
the renovation of the former Dalgliesh Cadillac Building (~125,000 square feet) at the corner of
Amsterdam and Cass and an adjacent area of new construction (~70,000) square feet) at the
corner of Woodward and Amsterdam (see presentation for details). The southern portion of the
site will include a small parking lot (~40 spaces) that will also serve as a proposed site for future
expansion. The lot is expected to be used for short term parking for visitors and possibly
research subjects that would visit the building. Full time employees of the MBRB are expected
to park in the open lot immediately north of the building that is currently leased by the University.
Security is expected appropriate given that the Wayne State Public Safety department is located
just down the street on Cass Avenue. In addition, a single entry way along with card key access
to more secure portions of the building is expected to ensure a high level of security.
In terms of specifics on design, a vivarium (small animal only) will be housed in the basement of
the new construction area and will contain animal holding rooms, imaging and procedural
rooms. Up to 48 PI teams are expected to occupy the MBRB when at full capacity. On average
the expectation was that each PI would have seven additional personnel which would change
depending on funding levels. Laboratory designs are currently being discussed with PIs that
have been chosen to help the planning team. Locations of PI offices, meeting rooms, and the
placement of a first floor auditorium are all under consideration in the current plan.
Construction of the building is scheduled to begin in December of this year (2012) and
completion is expected in January 2015. There are a number of very tight deadlines that must
be met in order to meet the proposed timeline. Some are listed below:
March 9: Location of all utility shafts
April 23: GMP (Guaranteed Maximum Price)
May 2: MBRB report to the BOG
June 11: Final design to the State
Dec. 2012: Start construction
Jan. 2015: Building occupancy
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At the time of occupancy the expectation is that the building will be ⅓ to ½ occupied with a time
period of two or more years to reach full operation. 20-25 new faculty recruits are expected to
fill the remaining laboratories in the building over this timeframe.
This concluded Dr. Walz’s presentation.
The final agenda item was from Dr. Rossi who announced the relocation of the Fed Ex office in
Scott Hall to main campus. Presumably this was a financial move on the part of the company
as the volume of business is not high enough to maintain a separate location.
The meeting was adjourned at approximately 10:40 a.m.
The next RDC meeting will be Friday April 6th, 2012.
Respectfully submitted,
Patrick J. Mueller, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor, Department of Physiology
T: (313)-577-1559; F: (313)-577-5494; E-mail: pmueller@med.wayne.edu
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