UNC Dedicates Cutting-Edge Medical Technology Building

The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) has named its former IRB building Marisco Hall and dedicated the 9-story, 340,000-sq-ft structure to the latest state-of-the-art medical technology.

The building will feature an impressive array of world-class imaging equipment. New installations include a hybrid MRI/PET whole-body scanner, a 7-Tesla MRI whole-body scanner and a cyclotron.

UNC says that it and Massachusetts General Hospital, in affiliation with Harvard University, are currently the only two academic medical centers in the country that have these three imaging devices in one location. Together, each device optimizes the capabilities of the others. The combination gives the new facility some of the most powerful diagnostic imaging tools in the world.

Marsico Hall houses a number of research programs run by the School of Medicine and the Eshelman School of Pharmacy. Also located in the building are the Marsico Lung Institute, the Biomedical Research Imaging Center, and researchers from UNC's Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center. Research in nanomedicine, microbiology and immunology, and pharmaco-engineering will now also be conducted in the building.

Bill Roper, dean of the School of Medicine, vice chancellor for medical affairs, and CEO of the UNC Health Care System, spoke at the dedication ceremony. "We are grateful for the state's generous contributions that have made Marsico Hall a reality," Roper said. "Because of the state's investment, students and faculty will be able to further advance scientific discovery and the delivery of care for North Carolinians and beyond - all in a leading edge facility. This building is a gift from the people of North Carolina, and it is with great pride that we dedicate the building to them and to the advancement of the health sciences."

The building was named for Thomas F. Marsico of Denver, chairman and CEO of Marsico Capital Management LLC, and father of two UNC alumni, for his lifetime contributions to the School of Medicine.

Stephen Levy is a contributor to Qmed and MPMN.