UGA dedicates Molecular Center

Wednesday was a dedication day at the University of Georgia: UGA cut the ribbon on its new Center for Molecular Medicine. It’s a $25 million facility on Riverbend Road in Athens.

"This world-class facility represents an investment in health care solutions that will improve the lives of millions of individuals around the globe," said UGA President Jere W. Morehead. "It also symbolizes the great partnership between the state of Georgia and its flagship university-a partnership that is helping to solve the grand challenges of our time and to fuel economic development in this state."

Since its founding in 2012, the center has focused on biomedical research that enhances quality of life in communities around the globe with Stephen Dalton, GRA Eminent Scholar of Molecular Cell Biology, as its founding director. Researchers in the CMM will focus on developing therapies and diagnostics for diseases that currently have no cures, including neurological diseases, cardiovascular disease, and metabolic diseases such as diabetes. The center's researchers also will concentrate on developing new vaccines.

The new facility will promote interdisciplinary collaborations between CMM researchers and investigators from other research centers across campus, including the Center for Drug Discovery, the Center for Tropical and Emerging Global Diseases, and the Complex Carbohydrate Research Center.

"We're recruiting the very best people in the world that fit with the mission of the center: to try and develop new therapies and cures," Dalton said. "We've had incredible support from the president, the provost and the chancellor in realizing this vision. What we have now is a new building that's going to be filled with state-of-the-art equipment and international-class researchers."

The center will mark the opening of the new facility by hosting a two-day symposium featuring world leaders in molecular medicine Oct. 10-11. Topics will include stem cell research, drug discovery, regenerative medicine and more.