Stellenbosch University’s New Collaborative Research Institute Advances Africa's Medical Initiatives

The University of Stellenbosch, Faculty of Medicine, unveils a new Biomedical Research Institute (BMRI) in Cape Town, South Africa.

The 40,000 square-meter facility at the Tygerberg Medical Campus was completed by lab design specialists at LTS Health.

Researchers at the BMRI investigate diseases and improve diagnosis techniques, prevention, and treatment of various illnesses. 

After seven years on the project, the institute is now open.

Boasting over ten departments including human genetics, psychiatry, reproductive immunology, biorepository, and molecular biology including TB and AIDS research facilities.

The research areas developed were in conjunction with the United Nation`s Global Sustainable Development Goals, the African Union`s Agenda 2063 goals, and South Africa's National Development Plan to target health challenges in Africa.

The BMRI is home to a northern and southern building containing 3300m2 of labs in the northern facility with refurbished Fisan across three stories, and in the southern building, 3700m2 of labs span over five levels with 650m2 of Biosafety Labs 3 and dissection halls.

The institute is also home to a Medical Morphology Learning Centre, bioinformatics space, electron microscopy labs, Proteomics and FACS labs, Sunskill lab, a clinical research hub, and conference rooms.

In addition, BMRI holds the first fully-automated biorepository in the Southern Hemisphere storing 3.5 million samples at –80°C and contains three modern BSL3 facilities, one of which is the largest in South Africa.