Montreal’s McGill Celebrates Construction Start of $53 Million Bellini Life Sciences Center

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Reported by Annette Kreuger, Industrialinfo.com (Industrial Info Resources; Houston, Texas). Years of patient planning have finally come to fruition with the beginning of construction on the Bellini Life Sciences Center. Late last year, officials at McGill University (Montreal, Quebec) held a formal groundbreaking ceremony to kick off one of the largest construction projects in the school’s history. The $53 million Francesco Bellini Life Sciences Building will serve as the anchor of what McGill plans on eventually being the largest research complex of its kind in Eastern Canada.

The project’s namesake is local scientist and businessman Dr. Francesco Bellini, who is credited with the commercialization of the first compound anti-HIV drug, 3TC. Dr. Bellini donated $10 million to the project in recognition of the research on 3TC that was done by McGill's Department of Chemistry.

Dr. Bellini’s donation in turn served as the catalyst for federal and provincial government organizations to complete the necessary funding. The Canada Foundation for Innovation (CFI) provided $21.3 million, which was matched in kind from the Government of Quebec. A $17.5 million grant from Quebec's Ministère de la Recherche, Science et Technologies funded the remainder of the project.

Montreal’s Decarel Company is managing the construction of the project, which is multi-disciplinary by design. Over 60 primary scientists will be housed in the building, which will offer space for up to 600 support personnel. The open lab environment will facilitate easier interaction between researchers from McGill's Faculties of Science and Medicine and McGill University Health Centre (MUHC). Studies will focus on the multiple disciplines of five biomedical fields: cancer, genetics of complex traits, chemical biology, developmental and reproductive biology and cell information transfer systems. The multiple-disciplinary effect of the Bellini Building will be further enhanced by its physical connection to the existing McIntyre Medical Building and the Stewart Biology Building.

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