Dr. Stephen Meyn, who joined the University of Wisconsin School of Medicine and Public Health in January to lead its Center for Human Genomics and Precision Medicine, was recently profiled in Quarterly Magazine, a publication of the Wisconsin Medical Alumni Association and SMPH. The article appeared as construction was beginning on Flad's two-story addition above the existing single-story structure on the west side of the Wisconsin Institutes for Medical Research building, which will be home to Meyn's group and help SMPH meet the growing demand for biomedical research laboratories.
Closely surrounded by existing spaces, the 32,400-square-foot addition, which is scheduled to be completed in September 2019, is designed to precisely integrate with several different functions. The necessity to maintain 24/7 operation of the first-floor clinical laboratory beneath the addition made its planning and construction schedule tricky, while extra attention was given to mitigating the transfer of noise and vibration to existing adjacent research zones. Flad's design both respects these functional spaces and accommodates the future addition of the final major WIMR project, the West Tower.
The addition is designed for high visibility, in keeping with the client's desire to bring a physical identity to its expanding genomics research focus. "It will be great to have a physical home of one's own," Meyn acknowledged to Quarterly, but said that the heart of the new center "will be its people and their ideas." For that reason, he said, "I've spent much of my first few months in Madison meeting with faculty throughout campus to learn about their interests and discuss how we can work together to develop collaborative clinical and basic science projects in genomics and precision medicine."
Photo courtesy of Sam Fentress
August 29, 2018