Pitt Schools of Pharmacy, Dental Medicine Commit to Future with New Pavilion

By: Courtney Caprara

ribbon cuttingIn front of a distinguished group of faculty, alumni and guests, officials from the University of Pittsburgh proudly cut a blue ribbon adorned with gold flowers to mark the official opening of the new Commons and Research Pavilion, located on Pitt’s campus near Salk Hall, on September 15.

The new building will provide four additional floors of laboratory space for use by the Pitt School of Pharmacy and School of Dental Medicine, while also serving as a gathering place for students and faculty. In the works since 2008, both schools are thrilled to finally utilize their new space.

The pavilion houses the School of Pharmacy’s Center for Pharmacogenetics and the Clinical Pharmaceutical Sciences Drug Discovery and Development, as well as the School of Dental Medicine’s Center for Craniofacial Regeneration. All of these programs are making great strides in their research, which is funded by various organizations and grants.

Art Levine, M.D., senior vice chancellor for the health sciences and John and Gertrude Petersen Dean of the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, provided introductory remarks and expressed his gratitude to all departments involved with the project, calling the day “a special day for the entire University community.”

ribbon2Associate vice chancellor for facilities management Scott Bernotas added, “If you build it, they will come. Hopefully this building will attract the best and brightest students and faculty to the University of Pittsburgh.”

Thomas Braun, D.M.D., M.S., Ph.D., dean of the school of dental medicine, acknowledged the support of Nobel Biocare, and Patricia Kroboth, Ph.D., dean of the school of pharmacy, acknowledged the support of Giant Eagle Pharmacy and CVS, all of whom contributed funds to make the construction of the pavilion possible.

Patrick Gallagher, chancellor of the University of Pittsburgh, took time to reflect on the decades of research accomplishments achieved by Pitt faculty and students in the Pharmacy and Dental Schools, saying, “This pavilion serves as a monument to our past and a promise to our future.”