Officials held an open house Thursday afternoon to dedicate UND's new Northern Plains Center for Behavioral Research.
The new facility's lobby was filled with people for the dedication ceremony, presided over by UND President Robert Kelley.
The building, Kelley said, will be home to scientists and psychologists whose focus is in behavioral research and study.
The center was built with about $4 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health.
It's one of the first centers for behavioral research built with funds from NIH to serve scientists in nursing and psychology as well as researchers in behavioral sciences.
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Researchers will use the center to look at a variety of conditions that impact people, such as diabetes, dementia screening, the effects of Vitamin D on pre-eclampsia and pregnancy, gambling behaviors and obesity in children.
The idea is to understand behaviors that relate to health issues, making it possible to understand those connections and improve the health and quality of life.
James Louviere, who worked as a consultant to the NIH design team that worked on the building, said the proposal for the building caught his eye.
"It was talking about research that really cared and helped the underserved population of this country," he said.
Louviere said that's one reason why NIH funds came to UND.
Now that it's open, it'll "enhance the ability of all people who are looking to help other people," he said.
After the official ribbon-cutting, people were invited to explore the 30,000-square-foot, three-story building, which is connected to the university's nursing building by a third-floor walkway.
