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| 17 de octubre de 2003 |
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For Further Information:
Michelle Davis
617-355-6420
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World's Largest Pediatric Research Enterprise Nearly Doubles in Size
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On Tuesday, October 21, Children's Hospital Boston will mark the opening of its New Research Building and the expansion of its research program, already the largest in the world based at a pediatric hospital. The research expansion includes the formation of six new multidisciplinary research programs, a near-doubling of available lab space, and the addition of more than 800 new scientists and staff members. The day of celebrations kicks off with a scientific symposium, a ribbon-cutting ceremony, and building tours.
"The core of our research effort are our people," says James Mandell, MD, president and CEO of Children's Hospital Boston. "We want to provide them with the space they need, create a research structure that maximizes collaborations among them, and make room to bring more top scientists on board."
The 12-story, $130 million New Research Building is located across the street from the John F. Enders Pediatric Research Laboratories building, which is being upgraded and will remain an active, full-fledged research facility. The New Research Building, at One Blackfan Circle, was the first structure to be approved for the city's planned Blackfan Research District; by the middle of the decade the district will host one of the greatest concentrations of academic researchers in the world.
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The new building was specifically designed by the firm Tsoi/Kobus & Associates (Cambridge) to enhance interaction and collaboration among scientists from different departments and fields: Features include placement of large equipment (such as centrifuges and freezers) along the middle of each floor to encourage sharing and chance contacts; a minimum of walls and doors to visually break down barriers between research teams; open, ''communal'' atrium spaces that allow views of floors above and below; and kitchens and open lounges on each floor. The laboratory areas, designed with the input of senior scientists at Children's, are modular and standardized, allowing rapid occupancy by a variety of research teams and the flexibility to accommodate change. The building directly faces the hospital's main entrance and has glass outer walls so that pedestrians can see researchers at work in their offices. The building contractor was John Moriarty & Associates.
The creation of 295,000 square feet of new research space will allow for the expansion of existing departmental research efforts, as well as the development of six new Multidisciplinary Programs spread across the two research buildings. The programs will overlap with, but complement, the existing clinical divisions and departments at Children's Hospital Boston, and each will have its own space and funding.
''The science of biology and medicine is becoming more horizontal,'' says Bruce Zetter, PhD, Vice President for Research at Children's. ''As researchers, we increasingly need to bring in expertise from outside our fields. The new groupings are intended to break down notions of who should be working together -- to remove artificial barriers and let scientists from different disciplines work together on complex biological problems.''
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The six new Programs are:
- Vascular Biology (Judah Folkman, MD, director), to be housed in the New Research Building;
- Stem Cell/Developmental Biology (director to be named), to be housed in the New Research Building;
- Neuroscience (Michael E. Greenberg, PhD, director), located in the Enders building;
- Genomics (Louis Kunkel, PhD, director), located in the Enders building;
- Children's Hospital Informatics Program (CHIP) (Isaac S. Kohane, MD, PhD, director), located in the Enders building;
- Tissue Engineering/Regenerative Medicine (director to be named), located in the Enders building.
A seventh program, now recognized as part of the multidisciplinary research structure, is the Clinical Research Program, acting director Stavroula K. Osganian, MD, MPH, ScD. This program supports clinical investigators by assisting with grant preparation, statistical reporting, and other functions.
The six new programs were identified as areas of focus because they build on existing research strengths at Children's or are targeted as areas for strategic expansion. All six research areas are expected to undergo rapid growth over the next decade as new discoveries are made, and all have the potential to yield findings leading to better patient care. ''The multidisciplinary nature of these programs will speed up our ability to translate lab findings to therapeutic applications that might not otherwise have been developed,'' Zetter says.
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For example, Judah Folkman, MD, director of the Vascular Biology Program, pioneered the recruitment of scientists from a variety of disciplines to do research on angiogenesis, or blood-vessel formation. Because of this diversity, angiogenesis inhibitors are today not only being used to shrink tumors, but are in clinical trials as treatments for atherosclerosis and age-related macular degeneration, both of which are also dependent on blood-vessel growth.
With the expansion will also come two new Biohazard Level 3 core laboratories (one in each research building) to enhance research in infectious diseases, and a new zebra fish facility in the New Research Building with a capacity for 1 million fish. The Enders building will also have its facilities upgraded to enhance research into the molecular and cellular basis of disease.
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Founded in 1869 as a 20-bed hospital for children, Children's Hospital Boston is a 300-bed comprehensive center for pediatric and adolescent health care grounded in the values of excellence in patient care and sensitivity to the complex needs and diversity of children and families. More than 100 outpatient specialty clinics are located at Children's. Children's Hospital Boston is the primary pediatric teaching affiliate of Harvard Medical School, home to the world's leading pediatric research enterprise, and the largest provider of health care to the children of Massachusetts. For more information about the hospital visit: www.childrenshospital.org.
To read a Backgrounder with more information about research at Children's Hospital Boston, visit: www.childrenshospital.org/pressroom/2003/backgrounder.html.
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