The 160,000-square-foot research building features 48 lab modules and will join the existing Wexner Institute for Pediatric Research on Columbus Childrens campus to form a world-class pediatric medical research complex that will house ten Centers of Emphasis: Biobehavioral Health, Cardiovascular Medicine, Cell and Vascular Biology, Childhood Cancer, Developmental Pharmacology/Toxicology, Gene Therapy, Injury Research and Policy, Microbial Pathogenesis, Molecular and Human Genetics and Vaccines and Immunity.
An outstanding asset of Research II is the 200-seat ampitheater-style conference facility, which is hard-wired for multi-media technology. This feature, along with features in the Wexner Institute, will allow Columbus Childrens to host national and international research conferences.
Columbus Childrens is poised to bring the best and most sophisticated research and clinical care to the children of central Ohio and the world, said Thomas N. Hansen, M.D., Childrens CEO, and chairman, Department of Pediatrics at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Public Health. The real measures of our success are found in the important discoveries that are coming out of our laboratories: vaccines against AIDS, hepatitis C and ear infections; the prevention of injuries, which is the leading cause of death in children; cures for genetic diseases and cancer; and a better future for infants born prematurely or with birth defects. All of these and more could come from research research done right here in central Ohio at Childrens.
Keynote speakers for the grand opening event were Philip R. Johnson, M.D., president of Columbus Childrens Research Institute (CCRI), and vice chairman for Research in the Department of Pediatrics at The Ohio State College of Medicine and Public Health, and Paul Michael Glaser, actor, director and honorary chairman of the board of directors of The Elizabeth Glaser Pediatric AIDS Foundation.
This facility offers us state-of-the-art research space that is already allowing us to recruit top-notch scientists and physicians from around the country to Columbus, said Dr. Johnson.
Guests at the evening celebration also journeyed into the world of pediatric research by visiting seven Discovery Stations that were located throughout the new research building. The Discovery Stations provided a glimpse into some of the exciting discoveries taking place at CCRI.
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