Work ready to begin on Bioscience 2 building

aurora » The University of Colorado Denver and the Fitzsimons Redevelopment Authority are ready to begin construction on the 578-acre health campus’ second medical research incubator building, Bioscience 2.

“This is our first real collaboration with CU,” said Steve VanNurden, president and CEO of the FRA, which was formed in 1996. “We meet every week to work on the design and final details. This project has been in the works for six or seven years.”

Crews are working on the 112,000-square-foot Bioscience 2 building at EastMontview Boulevard and Troy Street after the groundbreakingWednesday.

Bioscience 2 will go up next to its predecessor, the 97,000-square-foot Bioscience Park Center building, which is used as a medical business incubator for more than 40 startup companies on the 184-acre Fitzsimons Life Science District.

The four-story building will house CU’s newbioengineering graduate programon the first floor and parts of the second floor when it opens next year.

“One of the goals of theFRA is to incubate bioscience companies, and our program is well-fitted for that,” said Robin Shandas, professor and chair of the Department of Bioengineering atCUDenver. “Wenot only have researchers and faculty, but entrepreneurship is actually part of our training program.”

There are about 75 graduate students in the bioengineering program.

“The idea is to have our undergraduate students cometo the medical campus (in Bioscience 2) for their last two years, to complete their degree,” Shandas said.“Wewant our students to have very close interactions with (medical entrepreneurs) and biomedical and clinical faculty.”

The other half of Bioscience 2 will be dedicated to startup medical companies.