The University of Missouri System has closed its $10 million medical research institute as part of an effort to cut costs.
University spokesperson Christian Basi tells the Columbia Missourian that the decision to close the International Institute of Nano and Molecular Medicine will affect 17 full-time and part-time employees through layoffs and contract non-renewals.
The institute studied how to apply nanotechnology to fighting diseases. The university expects to save about $1.5 million annually with its closing. Basi says the building will likely to be used as a research facility.
The school is still recovering from students protest in fall 2015 over the administration's handling of racial issues and the subsequent resignations of the system president and chancellor of the Columbia campus. Freshman enrollment subsequently dropped.