The facility allows for disciplines such as neuroscience, biology, computer science, quantitative psychology, neuropsychology, engineering, pharmacy, optometry and more to develop in the same space. | Hendrick Rosemond/The Daily Cougar
The College of Optometry students eyed President and Chancellor Renu Khator on Tuesday as she unveiled the Health and Biomedical Sciences Building, which is vital in broadening Houston’s impact in the growing health care field.
The six-story science superstructure that encompasses 167,600 square feet is a first-class facility that will provide the University with educational opportunities to collaborate in the health science field.
The building will allow students to be involved in work force training and also to provide patient care in the community.
“We want to make sure we are serving our community in the best way possible,” Khator said. “By fitting their educational needs, by filling the workforce needs, by simply being relevant in the community, region, state and nation.”
University alumnus Dr. Doug Barnes and his wife, Molly, donated $5 million to help provide the campus with a cutting-edge facility. The first two floors of the new Health and Biomedical Sciences building will house the Molly and Doug Barnes Vision Institute, complete with its own ambulatory surgery center.
“It’s such an honor to be involved with this project, the enthusiasm and dedication of Chancellor Khator drew us in,” Barnes said. “We got caught up in the Houston Cougar fever.”
The doctors of Texas State Optical also gave $1 million to the new center, which created the TSO Alumni Education Center that will be on the first couple levels.
The upper floors contain additional laboratories in varying health science fields as well as the Texas Institute for Measurement Evaluation and Statistics.
The health care industry is rapidly growing and evolving, and the Health and Biomedical Sciences building is an important component in the University’s plan to provide its students with enriched learning resources.
Since Khator began serving as the chancellor in 2008, developing the campus into a Tier One university has been a driving force behind the push for more innovative facilities.
According to Nelda Luce Blair, chair member of the UH System Board of Regents, under Khator’s leadership the University is no longer on the list of the worst space deficit of any Texas university.
“It’s happened very quickly too, it seems that when Renu Khator came to Texas for the first time, that bull whip was very natural in her hand,” Blair said. “She cracks it all the time.”
