By WJBC Staff

SPRINGFIELD – Gov. JB Pritzker is announcing more than $15 million in funding to boost the development of wet labs across the state.

Eight facilities will benefit from the grant money, which will help fund the construction of new wet lab space.

The labs are used to research areas like biotechnology, medical devices, and pharmaceuticals.

“From inventing smarter COVID-19 testing strategies to their groundbreaking research at our world-class medical centers – our state’s life scientists are saving lives and building solutions to our greatest challenges,” said Gov. Pritzker.

Schools and facilities receiving the money include the Illinois Institute of Technology, Northwestern University, both Southern Illinois University campuses, and the University of Illinois Research Park.

“Today, we are deploying critical capital dollars to build shared lab space across our state to provide life science companies the tools they need to innovate, grow and make the next big research breakthrough,” added State Department of Commerce and Economic Opportunity Acting Director Sylvia Garcia.

Additional funding will come from private sources for a total investment in wet labs of $90 million.

WJBC Staff can be reached at [email protected].