NSU Horizons Fall 2007

36 horizons Nova Southeastern University is planning to build Florida’s largest wet-lab research facility. The Center for Collaborative Research (CCR), scheduled to open in 2009, will cost more than $50 million to construct and have an additional $5 million worth of research equipment, in addition to our in-place lab inventory. The 208,000-square-foot building on NSU’s Fort Lauderdale-Davie campus, will be a state-of-the-art, cooperative interdisci- plinary center for medical, pharmaceutical, dental, and oceanographic research. “We are committed to establishing a premier facility that will advance the research needs of the scientific community in a variety of areas,” said Fred Lippman, R.Ph., Ed.D., chancellor of NSU’s Health Professions Division. “Our goal is to pro- mote a holistic approach to prevention, diagnosis, and treatment.” The CCR will house one of the largest wet-lab research facilities in Florida. The wet lab will be a home base for applied health care research and medical informat- ics. Researchers will collaborate within this advanced environment to investigate phar- maceutical synthesis, cancer therapy, human stem cell research, biomaterials, wildlife DNA forensics, and ocean biomaterials. Located just east of NSU’s Health Professions Division, the CCR will be home to the Rumbaugh-Goodwin Institute for Cancer Research, NSU’s part of the Florida LambdaRail, information and technology services, investigators from the Health Professions Division and Oceanographic Center, and the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS). The federal agency is partnering with NSU, Florida Atlantic University, and the University of Florida to promote scientific cooperation for the Greater Everglades Restoration Project. Centralizing Collaborative Research • New Cancer Therapies: Appu Rathinavelu, Ph.D., executive director of NSU’s Rumbaugh-Goodwin Institute of Cancer Research, is working on pharmaceuticals to fight cancer. • Wildlife DNA Forensics: NSU’s Guy Harvey Research Institute, led by Mahmood Shivji, Ph.D., has developed cutting-edge, DNA-based forensic techniques and markers to rapidly identify illegally caught shark carcasses, dried shark fins, and other products obtained from shark fisheries and fin markets. • HIV Prevention: The HIV pandemic continues to be a public health problem throughout the country. Isa Fernandez, Ph.D., and her NSU research team have more than 10 years of experience working in HIV prevention for at-risk popula- tions in South Florida. Her research focuses on HIV and AIDS prevention programs. • Heart Disease: NSU researchers, led by Luigi Cubeddu, M.D., Ph.D., are investigating the affects of coronary heart disease. • Stem Cell Research: NSU’s College of Dental Medicine is only a decade away from being able to grow replacement teeth for patients, say researchers. This exciting breakthrough in endodontics is being spearheaded by the research of Peter Murray, Ph.D., an associate professor at the College of Dental Medicine. Murray and two graduate students, Mohammed Elseed, D.M.D., and Eric Gotlieb, D.D.S., are making headway in the field of regenerative endodontics using unique methods that incorporate stem cells. n Some of NSU’s major research projects include