Durham, N.C. - The Duke University Board of Trustees on Friday gave final approval to the construction of the Duke Global Health Research Building (GHRB).

In addition, the Duke Center for Integrative Medicine got the go-ahead needed for construction to begin on that project.

The GHRB will be one of four regional laboratory facilities in the United States charged with developing new vaccines, drugs and diagnostic tests designed to target infectious diseases.

Duke University Medical Center will lead a consortium of six universities in its research and development efforts and will also provide a training center for investigators. Additionally, the GHRB will be ready to assist in response to any national or regional biodefense emergencies.

In 2003, the National Institutes of Health approved funding for the construction of the regional biocontainment laboratories. Duke was chosen as the lead institute -- the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Vanderbilt, the University of Alabama at Birmingham, the University of Florida and Emory are the other universities in the consortium -- for the Southeast Regional Center of Excellence for Emerging Infections and Biodefense (SERCEB). Additionally, 22 other southeastern institutions, including North Carolina Central University, North Carolina State University and East Carolina University, are affiliated with SERCEB and will be collaborating with the six primary universities to conduct research.

GHRB will be housed in a 33,145-square-foot space at the corner of Research Drive and Erwin Road. GHRB investigators will conduct only Biosafety Levels 2 and 3 research; Duke researchers have conducted research safely at these biosafety levels for more than 35 years.

The GHRB will provide benefits both to the field of research into infectious diseases, as well as to the community. Some of these benefits include:

-- New facilities for research to develop vaccines, drugs and diagnostics against emerging infections such as tuberculosis, SARS and influenza. The research teams at the GHRB will be available to rapidly develop diagnostics and vaccines for any new local and regional threats.

-- Additional biocontainment space that will be made available to the Durham County Public Health Department in times of need. For example, should SARS, influenza or another public health emergency overwhelm the capacity of the Durham County Public Health Department, the GHRB laboratories will be available to the health department director and his or her staff for use.

-- Education programs in biosafety, infectious diseases, immunology and public health, targeted to investigators in the Triangle area. In particular, SERCEB training programs will recruit women and minorities to career development tracks.

The cost of building the GHRB is to not exceed $18 million, of which about $6 million will be contributed by Duke.

Also on Friday, the board's Building and Grounds Committee approved the design of the new Duke Center for Integrative Medicine (DCIM) -- the final step needed before construction could begin on that project.

DCIM seeks to serve as a catalyst for change in health care by encouraging patients to become more active in their own health and wellness and by fostering a partnership between patients and providers. Integrative medicine instills the goal of "whole person" healing, combining therapeutic interventions and conventional medical practices with those from complementary and alternative medicine.

The new 27,000-square-foot health and healing center will be constructed at a cost of about $10 million on the campus of the Duke Center for Living, off Erwin Road. DCIM is part of Duke's "prospective health care" approach that uses new medical and genomic tools to help individuals identify the specific health risks they face and to apply this information to prevent or delay disease.

In January 2004, the C.J. Mack Foundation donated $10 million for the DCIM facility. The foundation is the philanthropic entity of Christy King Mack and John Mack of Rye, N.Y. Christy Mack is a native of Greensboro, N.C., president of the C.J. Mack Foundation and chair of DCIM's National Advisory Board; John Mack is a native of Mooresville, N.C., a Duke alumnus and a member of the board of trustees.

Prior to Friday's action by the Building and Grounds Committee, the project had been approved by the Duke University Health System Board of Directors. Construction is expected to begin shortly and should take about a year to complete.

In other business, the trustees approved the creation of an interdisciplinary Ph.D. Program in Public Policy to train scholars intent on finding solutions to public problems. The program's faculty is expected to include members of the departments of public policy, economics, political science, sociology, history, psychology, Duke Law School, the Nicholas School of the Environment and Earth Sciences, the Fuqua School of Business and other Arts and Sciences departments.