R & D Magazine's Laboratory of the Year
2000 Special Mention

The Vontz Center embodies several goals for the College of Medicine at University of Cincinnati. A rapidly growing research campus, the University wanted a building that would make a progressive statement, mark a gateway to the Medical Center and serve as a magnet for creative researchers. With its almost surreal exterior design, the building itself is as much of an experiment as the research conducted within. Research at the Vontz Center focuses on the cellular level of Neuroscience including the studies of Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, Epilepsy, Stroke and work in nerve regeneration. In addition to the French Cancer Institute, cancer research programs at the Vontz Center examine the cellular regulators of cell division and metastasis as well as work towards developing vaccines for breast, colon and skin cancer.

Three stories of laboratories are situated in two blocks, with two blocks of offices, connecting as four components into a soaring central atrium. Grouped offices, open laboratories and a shared support core aid flexibility while serving to maximize collaboration. The lab support core includes tissue culture, dark rooms, equipment rooms, procedure rooms, controlled temperature rooms, radioisotope containment, and electron microscopy. Other special labs include a molecular biology core lab, physiology lab, electro-physiology room, and animal behavior study rooms. Multi-story windows are congruous through both the lab floors and the accessible interstitial floor which houses the mechanical, electrical and plumbing systems.