College Park (Map, News) - A new Bioscience Research Building at University of Maryland will enable the university to hire more top-flight faculty members and increase its research capabilities to the benefit of the state, according to Norma Allewell, Dean of College Park’s College of Chemical and Life Sciences.

“It’s like building a great stadium,” Allewell said Tuesday. “Why do people build them? Because it allows them to recruit great players for their teams, and that in turn is great for the city.”

Allewell said she plans to bolster the college’s roughly 115 faculty members by approximately 25 percent within the next three to five years.

“We now have a building that is as good a place to do scientific research in as any place in the country, so when the top job candidates go on the market for faculty positions, they will be very interested in coming here,” Allewell said.

The new $69-million, 134,000-gross-square-foot building has 35 labs for the study of pathogens, neuroscience and genomics. The facility is mostly state-funded and was officially dedicated Tuesday.

The building houses the new Maryland Pathogen Research Institute, where researchers will study new ways to detect pathogens in the environment and to prevent and cure global infectious diseases.

Allewell said the building will greatly enhance the university’s ability to study pathogens and work with animals, both of which were limited in the older facilities.

Said Terry Chase Hazell, chief executive officer of Beltsville-based SD Nanosciences: “What this building represents to me and other local Maryland CEOs is not only does the state say we want to be a great center for bioscience, but they are investing in the pipeline to make that happen.”

dfowler@dcexaminer.com