UNMC Completes Renovation, New Research Unit

Published by Scott Stewart on Sat, 03/06/2021 - 5:00am

From left, Christopher Kratochvil, executive director of clinical research for the Global Center for Health Security; Maj. Tiffany Welsh, C-STARS deputy director; UNMC Chancellor Jeffrey P. Gold; and Matthew Lunning, medical director of the Clinical Research Center, cut the ribbon on the Global Center for Health Security Clinic Research Unit during a Feb. 18 ceremony at the University of Nebraska Medical Center. (UNMC)

The Daily Record

The University of Nebraska Medical Center recently finished a $1.8 million renovation project to establish the new Global Center for Health Security Clinical Research Unit.

The unit features negative pressure exam rooms, a pharmacy, a lab and separate “hot” and “cold” zones that provide UNMC and its clinical partner Nebraska Medicine with the infrastructure to serve as a host site in national clinical trials to an investigational COVID-19 vaccine for adults, Dr. Matthew Lunning said in a UNMC news release. The center also will allow investigations into new diseases in real time.

The facility, located near 40th and Dewey streets, shares a space with the Lions Eye Clinic, which will continue to occupy space on the building’s first floor. A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held Feb. 18. The pandemic sparked the need for clinical research facilities, Lunning said. It went from idea to realty quickly, as UNMC took the necessary steps to launch a clinic and begin a clinical trial from the ground up.

“It’s this kind of effort and trust that can lead to something great that wasn’t available just a few months ago,” Lunning said.

The CRU’s “hot zone,” which includes two negative pressure clinic rooms, safely keeps infections out of the “cold zone” in the same manner as the Nebraska Biocontainment Unit.

Separate entrances and exits, as well as a unidirectional flow space, also prevent contamination.

The CRU facility and the vaccine study opened almost simultaneously at the end of 2020. Hundreds have been enrolled through a group effort between the UNMC Division of Infectious Diseases and CRU staff. A handful of other clinical research projects also are being conducted.

The renovated facility includes permanent office and administrative space for the Global Center for Health Security, the umbrella encompassing biopreparedness, infectious diseases and high-consequence infections research, education and clinical care at UNMC and Nebraska Medicine.

The U.S. Air Force has designated UNMC/Nebraska Medicine as one of its four Centers for Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills and the only one dedicated to specialized training for Air Force medical teams managing highly infectious disease threats. The renovation also includes offices for C-STARS.