Construction has commenced on the Cyrus Poonawalla Vaccines Research Building, a new facility located on the University’s Old Road Campus. This building is designed to support research in vaccine and pandemic sciences with over 9,000 square meters of laboratory and office space. The focus will be on protecting against infectious disease threats.
The facility will house more than 400 research scientists from various institutes including the Jenner Institute, the Pandemic Sciences Institute, and the Oxford Vaccine Group. These researchers will have access to advanced laboratories capable of handling diverse pathogens. The building will also serve as a center for clinical trials and research in epidemiology, surveillance, social sciences, policy, and ethics.
The groundbreaking ceremony was attended by members of the Poonawalla family. Vice-Chancellor Professor Irene Tracey and Martin Staehr from Laing O’Rourke delivered remarks before the formal breaking of soil took place.
Following the ceremony, the Poonawalla family visited Clarendon Arch at Oxford University. Dr. Cyrus Poonawalla's name was recently added to this arch in recognition of his family's contributions to vaccine research at Oxford.
The Moh Family Foundation also contributed significantly to this project with a donation made in 2022 to support the Pandemic Sciences Institute's work. Additional funding came from various university departments including Paediatrics and Medicine.
Chris Conlon, Professor of Infectious Diseases at Oxford's Nuffield Department of Medicine stated: "This building will enable and promote world-leading research in vaccine development and in infectious diseases so that future pandemics can be averted or confronted with the proper tools to control them."