A research facility devoted to addressing and eradicating the state’s most significant health disparities officially opened this morning on UK’s campus.
Dr. Lisa Cassis, a professor in the Department of Pharmacology and Nutritional Sciences and Vice President for Research says the new facility will bring researchers from all over the world to help eradicate the deadly diseases that are affecting Kentuckians. Kentucky leads the nation in death from cancer, heart disease, opioid overdoses and addiction and diabetes.
The $265 million facility was paid for with state funds and private philanthropy. The state of Kentucky invested $132.5 million in 2015 to get the project going, than appropriated another $40 million in bonds during the 2018 legislative session. Ultimately, some 500 scientists, principal investigators, graduate and undergraduate students will work there.