Groundbreaking ceremonies for GVSU's Center for Health Professions will begin at 11:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 23.
The Center for Health Professions, located on the corner of Michigan and Lafayette streets in northeast Grand Rapids, will house classrooms, offices and labs for GVSU's School of Health Professions, Kirkhof School of Nursing, and Life Sciences programs. Construction is scheduled to be complete in 2003.
Dignitaries expected to join GVSU President Arend D. Lubbers, Board of Trustees Chair Donna Brooks, and Science and Mathematics Dean Douglas Kindschi at the ceremony include state Rep. Jerry Kooiman (R-Grand Rapids), community leaders John H. Batts, Peter C. Cook, Richard M. DeVos, Leslie E. Tassell, and David L. Van Andel. Also expected to be in attendance are representatives from St. Mary's Health Systems and Mary Free Bed Hospital and Rehabilitation Center.
Several health professions students will participate in the groundbreaking, including senior Heather Bill, 21, of Allegan.
Bill's major is biology, with an emphasis on genetics and cell biology. This summer, she will be working at the Van Andel Institute with Dr. Cindy Miranti investigating the roles that integrin signaling plays in tumorigenesis and cancer cell characteristics.
Bill said her studies at GVSU were instrumental in helping her land the internship.
Ending up in the particular lab that I did was due in large part to the extracurricular research work that I have been doing with Dave Leonard in Chemistry at GVSU, Bill said.
