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Contact: Robert Barnhill, Center for Research, (785) 864-4148.

KU research boom leads to purchase of lab buildings

LAWRENCE -- A boom in research funding at the University of Kansas has led to a $3.6 million purchase of 55,000 square feet of office and laboratory space by the KU Center for Research.

A 40 percent increase in external funding of KU research in the past three years, including a robust 25 percent surge last year, fueled the decision to purchase the property, said Robert Barnhill, president of the Center for Research and KU vice chancellor for research and public service.

The Center for Research purchased the office and laboratory space at less than half the appraised value, Barnhill said, and at approximately a third of the cost that would have been incurred in building comparable facilities.

The purchase includes three buildings and some land formerly owned by Oread Inc. and Oread Laboratories Inc. Those corporations are in bankruptcy proceedings.

Two of the three buildings are laboratories and will be used by researchers in biology, chemistry and biomedical science, Barnhill said. The third is an office building.

"The laboratories will be used for research projects that need significant space," Barnhill said.

For example, Barnhill said, a $10 million cancer-research grant administered by KU and overseen by Gunda Georg, professor of pharmaceutical chemistry, would be the kind of project that could be conducted in the buildings.

The Center for Research is a not-for-profit corporation that develops resources to promote the growth and excellence of research and creative activity at KU.