The University of Nebraska Medical Center held groundbreaking ceremonies in Omaha Thursday morning for the future home of its College of Pharmacy…the $35-million dollar Lozier Center for Pharmacy Sciences and Education and Center for Drug Discovery.

The 85,000-square foot Lozier Center will give the College of Pharmacy much more space…allowing all of its operations to be in a single location with an increased research capacity.

It will include a model pharmacy, sterile compounding room, and practice areas for patient assessment and point-of-care testing in a way that will optimize collaborative learning.

Dr Courtney Fletcher, dean of the college, calls it “a unique opportunity to imagine and improve the future of human health.” He says says the new building will allow the school to produce pharmacists ready not only for the current challenges of their profession, but for those of the future as well.

Research activities at the Center for Drug Discovery will be focused on infectious diseases, making UNMC a national leader in the field. Outgoing UNMC Chancellor Dr Harold Maurer says no other academic medical center in the U.S. has a drug discovery program with a similar focus.

Construction on the Lozier Center is expected to begin next February with completion set for July 2015 during the College of Pharmacy’s centennial celebrations. It’s the latest in a series of new UNMC buildings that include the Fred & Pamela Buffett Cancer Center and the Stanley M. Truhlsen Eye Institute.