The MCT Lab will be officially opened by RCSI President Professor John Hyland and RCSI Vice-President Mr Kenneth Mealy on Thursday 15th June.
The Estate and Support Services Department handed over the recently completed Molecular and Cellular Therapeutics (MCT) Laboratory on Friday 5th May to Professor Tracy Robson and her team. The project entailed a full refurbishment of the existing MCT Lab, tissue culture suites and offices which were over 40 years old, and transforming the space into a state of the art research lab.
The lab was completely redesigned with lab benches positioned centrally between the large windows to provide abundant natural light and good circulation routes. Fume extract cupboards are positioned at opposite ends of the lab and the tissue culture suites have been remodelled with larger doors to provide better access. The new lab technician’s office has a large window to provide full view of lab activities for additional safety.
The building works consisted of replacing external windows, new partitions, new ceiling wall and floor finishes, new fire doors and new laboratory furniture. New mechanical, electrical and communication and security infrastructure was installed to ensure many years of future service. The projects team implemented a number of cost saving measures to reduce the overall budget, initiatives such as refurbishing fume cupboards and air conditioning units and sharing the cost of the access hoist resulting in a saving of €50,000.
The completed MCT Lab extends to 1,900sft with 430sft of office space. The lab will cater for Professor Tracy Robson’s team and can accommodate up to 30 researchers. Professor Robson is delighted with the new facility;
“We are absolutely thrilled with these state-of-the art laboratories, which will provide a fantastic environment to carry out world class research, focussed on understanding the molecular basis of disease in order to identify new biomarkers and drug targets. RCSI’s significant investment in these facilities will ensure the continuing success of our translational research programmes allowing us to revolutionize healthcare through discoveries and innovations that improve people’s lives”
The handover of the MCT Lab marks the completion of an extensive lab modernisation scheme undertaken by the ORI and Estates team which commenced in December 2015. In total €3m has been invested in our research facilities providing almost 10,000sft of modern laboratory and support space to equip our researchers with the best facilities in which to continue their work.
The Estates Team would like to take this opportunity to thank all project stakeholders for their patience and support over the course of the project. Special thanks to Dr. Paola Della Porta (ORI), Dr. Christopher Byrne (ORI), Mr. John O’Brien (Laboratory Manager), Dr. Steve Kerrigan (Pharmacy) and Professor Andreas Heise (Chemistry). Finally we would like to thank our extended design team, and main contractor Murcom Building Services.
