The Gwen and Jules Knapp Center for Biomedical Discovery

A new home for the Institute for Genomics & Systems Biology

Gwen and Jules Knapp have donated $25 million toward construction of a 330,760-square-foot, 10-story, state-of-the-art facility that will provide a new home for translational research programs including the Institute for Genomics & Systems Biology, the Cancer Research Center, and the Departments of Medicine and Pediatrics.

The Center will be built to enhance the collaborative culture of its occupants. This state-of-the art structure will include architectural features designed to frame an efficient and flexible work environment. The IGSB will have a dedicated floor (~22,000 nsf) of the Center when it opens in 2009.

Traditionally a highly interdisciplinary research university, the University of Chicago has recognized the exciting new scientific disciplines of genomics and systems biology by establishing The Institute for Genomics and Systems Biology (IGSB) in July 2006.

The fields of Genomics and Systems Biology are uniquely blended at the University of Chicago. Drawing on the expertise of investigators from more than twenty different departments across the Biological Sciences and Physical Sciences Divisions, genomics and systems biology at the University of Chicago unites some of the world's leading researchers and educators to solve complex biological problems that require an interdisciplinary approach.

Research. IGSB researchers are performing investigations of complex biological systems from a wide variety of perspectives — including experimental, computational and theoretical points of view.
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People. Over 70 investigators are actively engaged in the Institute's work. These include researchers from the University of Chicago, Argonne National Laboratory and other Chicago institutions.
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Services & Facilities. A broad range of state-of-the-art facilities is available to IGSB investigators as a result of the partnership between The University of Chicago and Argonne National Laboratory. These services include the new IGSB Cellular Screening Center.
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Education. The IGSB is training a new generation of young investigators to perform collaborative interdisciplinary research in the context of complex systems. Innovative educational initiatives include a Junior Fellows program, graduate curriculum and outreach activities.
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Partners. Argonne National Laboratory, The Chicago Biomedical Consortium, the Department of Energy and the National Institutes for Health are among the groups supporting IGSB mission goals.
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