Ryan Releases $31 Million to Finish a New Medical School and Construct a Chemical Sciences Building at UIC

CHICAGO - Governor George H. Ryan today released $31.4 million from the Illinois VentureTECH program to finish the construction of a new education and research facility for the University of Illinois College of Medicine and a new chemical science building on the UIC campus.

"These new buildings will not only renew the U of I's commitment to science, medicine and teaching, but they will strengthen the high-tech neighborhood around the facility, which is already known as a world-class center of breakthrough health care and research," Ryan said.

The Governor released $25 million for the new $101.9 million College of Medicine building. The facility will provide state-of-the-art laboratories, research centers and classrooms for the U of I's extensive medical and bio-tech programs. The UIC College of Medicine is the largest in the United States, employing 400 physicians on the faculty and more than 1,500 students.

The Governor also released another $6.4 million toward the construction of a new $70 million chemical sciences building for UIC. The new center will allow researchers to study the connections between basic structural biology and biotechnology. Programs at the new facility will include investigations into tumor growth, HIV, immunology, dental services, orthopedics and the environment.

The new facilities are located on the UIC campus in the heart of the 61-year-old Illinois Medical District on Chicago's west side. The IMD is home to more than 40,000 doctors, nurses, scientists and technical support staff. More than 4 million patient visits occur annually within the district. Annual revenues generated by the IMD exceed $1.5 billion. Annual salaries in the district top $750 million.

The new UIC medical building replaces research facilities that are more than 70 years old. Outdated labs have inhibited UIC's recruiting of top researchers and students, as well as research grants. The new facility will include biomedical research capabilities that will increase the College's ability to explore new treatments and procedures.

In addition to the new education and research building at UIC, Governor Ryan's VentureTECH program is helping fund a new state-of-the-art medical resonance imaging research and treatment facility. For the Illinois Medical District, VentureTECH helped build a technology commercialization center to help transition laboratory research into commercial ventures and is contributing $20 million toward the new $50 million Cohn biomedical research facility at Rush Medical Center.

Illinois VentureTECH is the governor's $2 billion state effort to boost Illinois' high-tech economy with the construction of needed facilities, infrastructure and research support in order to create jobs and economic development in various technology-related fields. VentureTECH was launched in 2000 and in three years has generated more than $4 billion in further private and public investments.