Science
(2009-10-29)
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COLUMBIA, MO
(KBIA) -
The rainy weather could not dampen the excitement outside the Melvin H. Marx building yesterday. About 50 people from the Columbia Chamber of Commerce and MU community attended the dedication of the MU Brain Imaging Center. MU Chancellor Brady Deaton says the new center is a new step for the university.
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"We are here to celebrate of course this large-scale state of the art neuro-imaging research facility. That is truly a new step toward that new frontier of science and understanding that we are known as a university to be creating."
The center cost $3.8 million for building renovations and all the new equipment. Most of the costs were off-set by funds from the Miller Family Chair in Cognitive Neuro Science. Brain Imaging Center Director Dr. Nelson Cowan says the benefits of the center will outweigh the initial costs.
"It's very important to have this technology to continue to be able to investigate different diseases and disorders. Anyone with a child with a problem would find that the ability to deal with this problem is enhanced generally by what we're doing at the university."
College of Arts and Sciences Dean Michael O'Brien says if MU wants to continue to compete for grant money, it needed the technology this center provides. It includes new MRI machine dedicated solely to research. This will allow researchers to have nearly 24-7 access to the MRI.
Cowan says that at least 15 departments have already contacted him about using the new machine for research. O'Brien says the sky is the limit for the Brain Imaging Center and what research can be done.
"What this is going to do is open up brand new frontiers in areas that nobody even has thought about like in philosophy or economics or sociology."
The Brain Imaging Center also includes a mock MRI machine. This machine allows patients to be comfortable in an MRI machine before data is taken on the real machine. Center officials say this has increased useable data from 50 to 75 percent since the center opened in February. © Copyright 2012, KBIA
