PITTSBURGH -- The University of Pittsburgh will build a 10-story, $188 million biomedical science tower to house the school's growing number of research groups, school officials said.

Pitt's medical school research funding from the National Institutes of Health has increased 77 percent from 1997. The tower, which would be built on Fifth Avenue in Pittsburgh's Oakland neighborhood, could accommodate the growth, the school said.

About 50 research groups will be housed in the 326,300-square-foot space, said university executive vice chancellor Jerome Cochran.

The school's property and facilities committee approved the plan earlier this month and university officials hope to build the tower by the first half of 2007.