Wayne State University completed construction of its 700 MHz NMR facility recently. This facility, funded by grants totaling $1.88 million from the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor, the National Institutes of Health and Wayne State's Office of the Vice President for Research, College of Science and School of Medicine, is the first 700 MHz NMR in the United States to be equipped with a cryoprobe, which provides sensitivity that is tenfold higher than its previous instrument and more than double the spectra resolution.

According to John SantaLucia, Jr., professor in the Department of Chemistry, "The cryoprobe will provide new opportunities to explore the structure of larger RNAs, DNAs and proteins in more detail than previously possible. In the long term, the research that results from the facility will improve healthcare in the state. Current research involves studying the mechanism of carcinogenesis, development of antibiotic and antiviral drugs for infectious diseases and applications to nanotechnology and materials science."

SantaLucia spearheaded the facility that is a multidisciplinary resource to Detroit and the greater Michigan community of scientists. In addition, the facility is a part of a larger statewide program in structural biology initiated by Governor John Engler and carried on by Governor Jennifer Granholm, called the Michigan Life Sciences Corridor, in which facilities will be made available to researchers throughout Michigan. The facility will also be available to Michigan companies and it is hoped that it will provide resources to retain jobs in Michigan and while encouraging the formation of new companies that create jobs in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries.

Wayne State University is one of the nation's pre-eminent public research universities in an urban setting. During the past 20 years, Wayne State's research has grown 15 percent annually, with research expenditures reaching nearly $200 million in 2002. Over 75 percent of research at the university is focused on the life sciences, and this focus has led our School of Medicine to climb the National Science Foundation rankings to 22 in 2001.

Through its multidisciplinary approach to research and education, and its ongoing collaboration with government, industry and other institutions, the university seeks to enhance economic growth and improve the quality of life in the city of Detroit, state of Michigan and throughout the world.