Mo. University to Name Building for Doisy

Saint Louis University will name its new $67 million biomedical research center after Edward Doisy, who spent five decades at the university's School of Medicine and won the 1943 Nobel Prize for discovering the chemical nature of vitamin K.

The university announced the name of the 10-story center on Friday, the same day it announced that the Doisy family has agreed to donate $30 million for construction of the building, formally known as the Edward A. Doisy Research Center.

The gift is the largest in the history of the 170-year-old university. The research center is scheduled to be finished by the fall of 2007.

"Nothing would have made Ed happier," his widow, Margaret Doisy, said in a news release. "I hope the memory of Ed will be a source of inspiration for men and women to pursue scientific knowledge for many years into the future at Saint Louis University School of Medicine."

Doisy "inspired greatness in his lifetime, and he will continue to inspire greatness in our faculty and students in the decades ahead," university president Lawrence Biondi said.

The research center will focus on five areas: cancer; liver disease; heart and lung disease; aging and brain disease; and vaccine development for a variety of infectious diseases.

Including the donation from the Doisy family, the university on Friday announced a total of $60.5 million in philanthropic support for the research center.