Iowa has one of the fastest-growing rates of new cancer cases in the nation. Given the university's nationally ranked medical center and its world-class cancer researchers across fields such as pharmacy, medicine, public health, nursing, dentistry, liberal arts, and engineering, it’s only fitting that cancer research and patient care have been designated as a key focus area—recognized as a Distinctive Collaborative Opportunity.
In September 2024, the Iowa Board of Regents approved early-stage planning of a new facility to bring together researchers from the university's health-sciences colleges. As planning gets underway, representatives from these colleges are among those at the table to provide input on programming and design.
Jill Kolesar, dean, professor, and Jean M. Schmidt Chair in Drug Discovery in the College of Pharmacy, said this collaboration also will be critical to the work that takes place inside the building well into the future. “Bringing people together across disciplines will be fundamental to groundbreaking cancer discoveries,” she said.