The Associated Press

CLEVELAND - Case Western Reserve University and University Hospitals of Cleveland are teaming up on a new building dedicated to disease research.

The $110 million, 320,000-square-foot Iris S. and Bert L. Wolstein Research Building is scheduled to open this week. The building is jointly owned by Case and University hospitals.

The center will be occupied by researchers at both institutions and faculty recruits, said Dr. Pam Davis, senior associate dean of the Case medical school. Some faculty also may be affiliated with the Cleveland Clinic.

Having researchers work side by side, instead of in separate buildings, "facilitates the flow of ideas and expertise" and is a better use of space and people, said Fred Rothstein, University Hospitals' president and chief executive.

One of the center's features is a "mouse house," an area that can hold up to 100,000 mice. Studies have shown humans and mice share most genes, and the animals have become "incredibly important" as models for human disease, said Dr. Ralph Horwitz, Case's medical school dean.

The first floor will largely be devoted to a genetic epidemiology group headed by Robert Elston, director of the Division of Genetic and Molecular Epidemiology.

Elston's group now works out of MetroHealth Medical Center. It focuses on identifying the role of genetic factors in the risk for developing diseases such as cancer, and the influence of genetic factors in response to the treatment of disease.

The second and third floors are assigned to researchers in the Case Comprehensive Cancer Center who now work out of several different buildings.

Researchers associated with Case and University Hospitals bring in about $33 million a year in National Cancer Institute funding.

About half of those researchers will work on projects at the new building, said George Stamatis, spokesman for the medical school. The focus there will be on stem cells, colon cancer, cancer genetics and cancer therapeutic targets, said Dr. Stanton Gerson, chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology.

The building's first occupants are scheduled to move in during November or December. A dedication ceremony is scheduled for Thursday night.

On Friday, the building will host its first symposium, "Science and education serving society," at which Gov. Bob Taft is expected to speak.