The Arizona Board of Regents has approved plans to construct a ten-story research building on the campus of the University of Arizona College of Medicine in Phoenix.

Meeting in Flagstaff, the regents endorsed the construction of the Biosciences Partnership Building. The estimated $136 million project would break ground near 7th Street and Fillmore in downtown Phoenix by the end of this year, with completion expected early in 2017.

U of A President Ann Weaver Hart says the research undertaken in the building would advance the interests of health care and translate new scientific developments into specific treatments.

Research focus areas are going to include neurosciences, health-care outcomes, cancer and precision medicine.