Emerging Pathogens Institute dedication ceremony set for Jan. 26

January 13, 2010

WHAT: The University of Florida’s Emerging Pathogens Institute (www.epi.ufl.edu) is dedicating its Pathogens Research Facility, an 80,000-square foot building, and is inviting news media to attend. The program will include an open research exhibit featuring up to 80 poster presentations; an opening ceremony with guest speakers; and tours of the new building for media, to be led by Dr. J. Glenn Morris, EPI’s director. The tours will offer a chance to see the biosafety level II labs, and to learn about EPI’s research initiatives in Florida and abroad.

WHO: Guest speakers at the ceremony will include UF President Bernie Machen; UF Vice President for Research Win Phillips; Florida Surgeon General Dr. Ana M. Viamonte Ros; Florida Department of Agriculture Deputy Commissioner Dr. Joanne Brown; Infectious Disease Society of America President-elect Dr. James Hughes; and U.S. Department of Agriculture Deputy Undersecretary for Food Safety Jerold Mande.

WHERE: The facility on UF’s campus is at the northwest corner of Archer Road and Gale Lemerand Drive at 2055 Mowry Road. The opening ceremony will be held in an outdoor tent venue, with other activities inside the building. To find EPI on UF’s online Campus Map, search for keyword “Pathogens” or use the Building Locator list and scroll to “Pathogens – EPI”: http://campusmap.ufl.edu. Directions for parking: From Archer Road, turn north on Gale Lemerand Drive, then left onto the grass field just east of the Cancer/Genetics and EPI buildings.

If you are unable to travel to UF, the ceremony will be streamed live on the World Wide Web, and the video will be available for download from the EPI Web site after the event. The media building tours will not be streamed.

WHEN: Tuesday, Jan. 26
10 a.m. – 12 p.m. EPI Research Day, poster exhibit
1 p.m. – 1:45 p.m. Media tours of the building, including lab spaces
2 p.m. – 3 p.m. Dedication ceremony

EXTRA NOTES:
The EPI media backgrounder, digital edition, is now online: http://www.epi.ufl.edu/?q=media. This page also houses the photo gallery, which is a collection of high resolution images available for download — all images from the digital backgrounder are in the online photo gallery, plus a few more.

For media inquiries, please contact Steve Orlando, director of UF News Bureau, 352-392-0186, sfo@ufl.edu.