Cancer and Cardiovascular Research Facility

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LSU Health Shreveport Continues to “Aim High” with Planned Research Expansion at Former Sears Property.

The new LSUHS Cancer and Cardiovascular Research facility is anticipated to open in 2027 and will elevate awareness and the stature of research at the institution.

building rendering at dusk setting

In response to continued growth in externally funded research over the last several years, LSU Health Shreveport announced on September 13, 2024 its plans to reimagine the former Sears property located at Mall St. Vincent as a state-of-the-art research facility focusing on cancer and cardiovascular research.

CURRENT RESEARCH SPACE NEED

This research expansion announcement is occurring exactly 30 years after the opening of the Biomedical Research Institute (BRI) in 1994. The BRI, owned by BRF – Building Our Regions Future – leases to LSUHS 56 research laboratories connected to the LSUHS School of Medicine in Shreveport on a 1.23-acre tract of land owned by the state of Louisiana.  According to the LSU Health Shreveport archives, the ten-story, 160,000 square foot Biomedical Research Institute was made possible in large part due to Virginia K. Shehee, then president of the Biomedical Research Foundation of Northwest Louisiana. 

The need for more research space is based on

  • projections of new grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) to be awarded to existing researchers and
  • space needs of funded researchers who are being actively recruited to LSUHS

OPPORTUNITIES FROM EXPANSION 

The former Sears building is ideal with its’ wide-open spaces which are conducive to easily adapting to today’s open, modern research space designed to cost-effectively flex in size and scope. Approaching the increase in research space by reimagining an existing space versus construction of a new research building offers numerous benefits to include:

  • Expedited construction timeline due to reused versus new space.

  • Increasing brand awareness for LSU Health Shreveport due to the outstanding visibility on I-49 corridor.

  • Delivery of increased activity level to St. Vincent Mall which will enhance safety for all tenants and shoppers.

  • Avoids further parking demands on the bustling Kings Highway campus.

  • Supports LSU’s vision to become a top 50 research university system.

The property consists of 160,000 square feet of interior space on 18 acres with more than 800 parking spaces. The building is less than a mile from the main LSUHS campus, also making it an opportunity to consider adding clinical operations by Ochsner LSU Health Shreveport whose primary campuses are nearby.

    

Dr. David Guzick with fair complexion and short hair, smiling, wearing a doctor's coat

“My optimism regarding the future of LSU Health Shreveport is increasing exponentially with this future research expansion. The determining factor of the stature of U.S. academic health centers is the amount of externally funded research they acquire. Through this building project, which will not require any state funding. LSU Health Shreveport instantly becomes much better poised not only to attract more world class funded researchers but to give our currently funded researchers the space they deserve and need to grow and thrive. Moreover, the dollars flowing into Shreveport from external sources, along with potential revitalization of Mall St. Vincent, will spur economic development in the region.” - David Guzick, MD, PhD, Chancellor of LSUHS