Unique Research Centre to be Built in Santara Valley
Vilnius University (VU) and its partner UAB Eikos statyba have signed a contract for the construction of the building of the Research Centre of VU Faculty of Medicine, which marks the beginning of a new stage in the implementation of the unique project. The Research Centre in Santara Valley, located in the Santariškės district of Vilnius, where VU Hospital Santaros Klinikos operates, will contribute to the development of the infrastructure of other companies operating in the fields of medicine and pharmacy. The results of the research conducted at the Centre will be available for the prompt use in the clinical practice by introducing new and improving existing diagnostic methods, contributing to the improvement of the quality and availability of health services.
An international project that will improve the medical situation in Lithuania
VU Rector Prof Rimvydas Petrauskas is convinced that this project not only opens up new opportunities, but also is also important in the face of the current coronavirus pandemic, when specialized research and medical centres are of great importance. “This research centre is a very important infrastructure project, which creates preconditions for a breakthrough in health sciences and offers completely new opportunities for interdisciplinary cooperation. The construction is launched during the pandemic crisis, when the need for new knowledge and modern technology is more evident than ever.”
According to the Dean of the VU Faculty of Medicine Prof Algirdas Utkus, the new research centre will be used not only for basic and clinical research in medical science – the change will also be important for many researchers, whose infrastructural working conditions will significantly improve and who will have the opportunity to work with the latest equipment approved by the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports.
“We will finally have a research centre that will purposefully investigate problems related to human health, which is important both at the national and international levels. The changes will significantly strengthen the scientific base of the Faculty of Medicine, we hope for the growth of high-quality scientific products and the attraction of foreign talent, which will undoubtedly benefit not only VU, but also the whole of Lithuania. In addition, students of various cycles of studies will have the opportunity to carry out their research work at the Research Centre – this will be the place for academic activities,” Prof Algirdas Utkus says.
The created research infrastructure will allow to carry out research activities at a new qualitative level and to create innovations in relevant fields of science and medical specialisations. It will be possible to carry out work focused on the identification of the causes of diseases, heredity research, innovative methods of treatment and prevention and their application in clinical practice.
“Currently, the world pays a lot of attention to the field of genetics and genomics, so this is, of course, taken into account in the building project. When the idea of such a centre emerged 20 years ago, we did not even have a thought about the pharmacy study programme and pharmaceutical research, and today we have a strong desire to develop research in this area, not just in medicine. So, during the waiting period, the wishes and intentions changed a little, but the essence remained the same – the new research centre is very necessary and welcome,” the Dean of the VU Faculty of Medicine says.
The centre will create favourable conditions for conducting interdisciplinary research and combining it with clinical research. Modernisation and concentration of the instrumental base and the scientific intellectual potential of biomedicine for top-level fundamental and applied research will increase the efficiency of research activities: it will increase the volume of interdisciplinary research, publications and quotations reduce duplication of scientific topics, encourage knowledge and technology transfer and commercialisation activities.
New opportunities for researchers and students
The 17 thousand square meter research centre will house the complex of specialised research laboratories of the Centre for Genetic Research, Physiology, Biochemistry, Microbiology and Laboratory Medicine, Infectious Diseases and Dermatovenereology, Breast Diseases, Immunology and Allergology, Dentistry, Neurology and Neurosurgery, other clinics, which meet the technological requirements for the highest level of scientific and experimental work. According to Daumantas Gudelis, Head of the Project Management Division of the VU Development Department, the premises of the centre will meet the highest-level requirements and modern solutions.
“The complex of the centre’s premises will comply with ISO 6-8 cleanroom standard and BSL2-BSL3 biosecurity level. There will be a cardiac surgery, cardiology and angiology centre with an operating room, state-of-the-art small animal imaging equipment, animal housing, and a pharmacy with an extemporaneous drug production laboratory. The Research Centre will have conference halls, auditoriums, consultation, meeting and seminar rooms, rooms for scientists and doctoral students, a simulation medicine centre, and practical training rooms for the innovative study process,” Mr Gudelis says.
The spaces provided in the new research centre building will provide more opportunities for researchers, students, residents and doctoral students, improve infrastructural solutions, and make it much more convenient to conduct research since all the necessary facilities will be in one place – in Santara Valley. The representative of the project partner UAB Eikos statyba also sees the values of the exceptional project.
“After the construction of the Clinic of Infectious Diseases in late 2019, this Research Centre of the Faculty of Medicine creates an opportunity for us to accumulate even more experience in the construction of medicine-related buildings – we become real experts, and at the same time we commit ourselves to perform work in a high quality and on time in one of the largest projects in the company’s history, both in terms of scope and investment,” Almantas Čebanauskas, CEO of UAB Eikos statyba says.
The total value of the Research Centre project is currently about EUR 37.1 million, of which the major part, i.e. EUR 23.1 million, originate from the European Regional Development Fund, and in addition, in late 2020, the Ministry of Education, Science and Sports approved of the allocation of EUR 10 million funding for the purchase of scientific equipment. The project is expected to be accomplished by the end of 2023.