Jana Waring Greer, Robert Erburu, President Steven Sample and Dean Joseph Aoun

Construction of $50 Million USC Molecular & Computational Biology Building Heralds New Era for USC
Breaking Ground

By Eva Emerson

In a week marking the 50th anniversary of the discovery of the structure of DNA, USC College celebrated a new structure of its own.

On April 24, USC leaders kicked off construction of the new USC Molecular & Computational Biology Building with a groundbreaking and luncheon.

With a flourish from the Trojan Marching Band, USC President Steven Sample joined USC College Dean Joseph Aoun, Robert Erburu, chairman of the College Board of Councilors, and Jana Waring Greer, chair of the life sciences fundraising campaign for the College Board of Councilors, to turn over the first shovels of earth at the site of the new facility.

“Fifty years from now, we will look back at this current era as the golden age of research in the life and biological sciences,” said Sample in his remarks to the enthusiastic crowd. The 300 attendees included USC Trustees, members of the USC College Board of Councilors, faculty, students and key supporters. “The ground we break today signals a new era for the life sciences and the biological sciences at USC.”

Aoun, the day’s host, thanked President Sample and the USC Trustees for their support. “We are here today for what is perhaps the greatest day in the history of the College,” he said.

He then went on to praise the molecular and computational biology group’s distinguished record of collaboration, discovery and innovation.

“Computational biology could only arise in a college, because only in a college do we have the right building blocks—mathematics, molecular biologists, geneticists and computational people,” Aoun said. “But it didn’t happen in any college, it happened at USC.

“Why? Because we pride ourselves on allowing faculty to work across disciplines. We believe that discovery happens at the edges of disciplines. We believe that it is not enough to foster interdisciplinary research, but to provide leadership.”

Aoun noted that the building realizes a long-held dream by USC’s life sciences researchers. “Their work will pay extraordinary dividends not only in the understanding of diseases and the design of innovative therapies, but in the basic understanding of life itself,” he said.

The $50 million research facility is dedicated to exploring the far edges of knowledge in molecular and computational biology. It has been designed to encourage collegial and interdisciplinary interactions that often lead to innovation, and will house the USC Center for Computational & Experimental Genomics.

“This is so much more than a groundbreaking for a building,” Greer exclaimed. “We are breaking new ground. It is a revolutionary time for life sciences—and for life sciences at USC.”

With the future footprint of the new building marked by columns of balloons, the building’s future occupants surveyed the farthest points. “We are going to have a good deal of space,” said University Professor Michael Waterman, nodding approvingly.