The University of Illinois College of Medicine at Peoria (UICOMP) held it's official Cancer Center Groundbreaking ceremony in Peoria IL.  The special ceremony featured presentations by U.S. Secretary of Transportation Ray LaHood, U.S. Congressman Aaron Schock, University of Illinois President Michael Hogan, and The Heartland Partnership CEO Jim MCConoughey. The 20,000-square-foot laboratory addition will enhance the cutting-edge research performed at UICOMP’s Department of Cancer Biology and Pharmacology.

Heartland PartnershipCEO Jim McConoughey spoke about the collaborative spirit that the Peoria IL Metro Region has when it comes to projects as important as this.  "Today we have lawmakers from both sides of the isle and from the local level to the federal level, we also have representatives from academia and medicine, as well as leaders from the community and the corporate world...all here today for one single reason...to help find a cure for cancer and research is that cure."

"We have spent nearly 10 years dreaming about this building and the vital research that will occur within it,” said Dr. Sara Rusch, UICOMP’s Regional Dean. “Each of us has a friend or a relative who has been impacted by cancer. It is critically important that we find a cure. Peoria has the people, the plan, and the potential. Now we are building the place.”

The new cancer center will be dedicated to the study of molecular, cellular, and genetic characteristics involved in cancer. The project is a $10-million collaboration between the University of Illinois, Caterpillar Inc., OSF Saint Francis Medical Center, Methodist Medical Center, The Heartland Partnership, various federal, state, and local government entities, and private donors.

The Cancer Research Expansion Project is expected to generate approximately $35 million for Peoria’s economy, including up to 50 new jobs. Building completion is anticipated within 18 months.