UI Health unveils renovated surgical space

Enrico Benedetti (from left), head of surgery, with UI Health faculty Tapas Das Gupta, Ajay Rana and Basabi Rana. — Photo: Roberta Dupuis-Devlin

The UI Health department of surgery officially opened renovated lab space March 31 for new surgical oncology research faculty and a new conference room/lounge space for surgical oncology residents.

The space, on the sixth floor of the Clinical Sciences Building, had been underutilized for years, said Basabi Rana, professor of surgery.

Rana will run two of the three refurbished labs to investigate mechanisms of action of liver and prostate cancer. Ajay Rana, the Kubinsky Das Gupta Professor of Surgery, will concentrate on triple negative breast cancer and prostate cancer.

Both Ranas came to UIC from Loyola in August, bringing with them about a dozen of their colleagues in oncology research.

“We were attracted to UIC because of the resources available here to take our research to the next level, including strong core research facilities, access to human tissue samples, and strong academic and faculty support from the department of surgery,” Basabi Rana said. The renovations were funded jointly by the dean’s office, University of Illinois Cancer Center and the UI Health department of surgery.