This second phase of the Health Sciences Initiative is the building of the Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences. Upon completion, the Li Ka Shing Center will foster advances in cancer biology, infectious diseases, gene regulation, stem cell biology and neurodegenerative diseases by uniting under one roof research on the molecular origins of human disease.

Facts about the Li Ka Shing Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences

• The overarching programmatic goal of the Li Ka Shing Center will be to study the molecular basis for disease, providing fundamental knowledge to combat the world’s most devastating health problems.
• The four pillars of research in the Center will be: cancer biology, infectious disease, gene regulation and stem-cell biology, and neurodegenerative disease.
• The Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences represents Phase II of the Berkeley Health Sciences Initiative, which aims to foster interdisciplinary and collaborative research in health-related fields. Phase I, the $162 million, 285,000-square-foot Stanley Biosciences and Bioengineering Facility, broke ground in May 2003 and is scheduled for completion in late 2006.
• The Li Ka Shing Center represents Phase II of the Berkeley Health Sciences Initiative. Phase I — the $162 million 285,000 square-ft. Stanley Biosciences and Bioengineering Facility — broke ground in May 2003. The building is on time and within budget for completion in 2006.
• Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Partnership was selected as Executive Architect for the Center for Biomedical and Health Sciences in October 2005. Construction is anticipated to begin in academic 2007/08 and will reach completion in 2010/11.
• The Center will be designed to accelerate and foster cutting-edge multidisciplinary research and teaching in molecular disease biology. The laboratory and lab support space will be designed with flexible layout that can easily respond to multidisciplinary research protocols and evolving needs of modern research.
• It will be located at the major western entrance to campus and will serve as an anchor building for a quadrangle of research and teaching buildings dedicated to the biosciences.
• Building designs envision a five story structure with one basement level. The facility will house 30 research laboratories and a major new teaching lab, several lecture halls and seminar facilities, the Henry H. Wheeler, Jr. Brain Imaging Center, and highly specialized facilities to house state-of-the art instrumentation and containment areas for handling viruses and stem cell cultures.
• The preliminary model for the structure measures approximately 200,000 gross square feet. The cost of the Center, when constructed, is estimated to be $160 million. Funding will come from both public and private sources.
• UC Berkeley is uniquely positioned to excel in bioscience research. Berkeley faculty are consistently ranked in the top 5 in biochemistry, genetics, molecular biology, structural biology, and computational biology.

Updated November 2006