New York State Governor Andrew Cuomo helped open the newly renovated Demerec Laboratory in October of 2019 after a two-year, $75 million renovation. This project aimed to restore and preserve the building’s original 1950s brutalist design while also adding modern amenities and safety equipment. The efficient, “no-nonsense” style of brutalism featured on the exterior reflects not only the history of the original architecture but also of Milislav Demerec, the facility’s namesake, who had a similar style of studying science.

The project demolished two of the three previous additions to the building and constructed a new three-story addition. The laboratory houses four wet labs, one chemistry lab, a tissue culture lab, a glassware kitchen, cold rooms, freezer rooms, conference rooms, and principal investigator and post-doc offices. The high efficiency design employs geothermal heating, cooling, and other advanced sustainable strategies.

The renovation also added a new program that addresses whole-body physiology and the impact cancer has on it. Demerec will be home to the new Center for Therapeutics Research, which will foster advancements already underway in breast cancer, leukemia, obesity, diabetes, and lung cancer therapeutics.