Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology

Construction

Plans for what would become the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology (IGB) were formed in the late 1990s. Initially, the facility was to be named the Post-Genomic Institute; the name was changed to Institute for Genomic Biology in 2003. Funds of $67.5 million were initially appropriated by the state of Illinois for construction in 2000. In response to economic hardships, the state halted plans for construction in 2001 as part of a large set of budget cuts, but in 2002, funds were re-appropriated. Construction began in April 2004 and was completed in November 2006. The building was dedicated in March 2007. The Institute, initially named the Institute for Genomic Biology, officially changed its name to the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology in 2015 to honor the scientific contributions of Carl Woese.

Leadership

The IGB was initially led by Harris Lewin, then a professor in the Department of Animal Sciences at the University of Illinois. Lewin served as the founding director until 2011, when he accepted the position of Research Vice Chancellor at University of California, Davis. Gene E. Robinson, a professor in the Entomology department, took over as Interim Director, and was named the new Director of IGB in January 2012.

Personnel

The IGB houses over 130 faculty and 600+ graduate students, postdoctoral fellows, and research personnel. IGB faculty are drawn from a broad range of departments, including Crop Sciences, Psychology, Entomology, Physics and Computer Science.

Aims

The research goals of the IGB fall under one of three Program Areas (Systems Biology, Cellular and Metabolic Engineering, and Genome Technology). Work at the IGB addresses societal challenges related to health, the environment, and food production, both through basic science research and through exploration of ethical and legal issues. Research is further organized into Themes, each of which occupies a customized lab and office space. Each Theme contains multiple research groups. These groups often pursue some research questions independently, but are unified by a common interest in the broader area of the Theme. The multi-group space encourages communication and collaboration between researchers with diverse backgrounds and technical skills. One senior faculty member acts as Theme leader, and is responsible for shaping and guiding the overall research initiative. Themes are reviewed every five years; new Themes may be added or existing Themes modified to reflect the current state of genomics research. Current Themes are listed below:

Notable awards and partnerships

In 2007, the University of Illinois, along with the University of California, became partners with the energy company BP as part of a major research project to develop bioenergy sources. The University of Illinois facility is based in the IGB.

In 2011, Abbott Nutrition and the University of Illinois formed collaboration to establish a research center for the study of the relationship between nutrition and cognition, the Center for Nutrition, Learning, and Memory (CNLM). Several campus units are currently partners of CNLM, including the IGB.

Building

The IGB is located on the south side of the University of Illinois main campus at Urbana-Champaign. The building was constructed by the architecture firm CUH2A (now a part of the architecture-engineering company HDR). The exterior of the building was designed to include elements of Georgian architecture, consistent with many other campus buildings, but with a modern feel. Inside, each Research Theme has a large, open plan laboratory space and additional work rooms and office and meeting area. The building stands adjacent to the Morrow Plots.