Penn’s $370M research center

The center in West Philadelphia is, according to Penn officials, the first medical research building on its campus — and one of the first anywhere — to be physically integrated into facilities for patient care, specifically the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine and the Roberts Proton Therapy Center.

It also serves as the home to three Penn institutes created in early 2005: the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism; the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics; and the Penn Cardiovascular Institute.

The first researchers started moving into the facility, which will have 531,000 square feet of research space, last month.

Over time, the center will have 100 lead researchers and 900 additional staff members, plus more than 700 lab work spaces and 180 research bays.

Dr. Francis Collins, director of the National Institutes of Health, will be the keynote speaking for the grand opening ceremony that begins at 5 p.m. At the event, Penn plans to honor several basic researchers and clinicians who “have made the interdisciplinary center for learning, discovery, and healing a reality.”

Article originally posted on The Philadelphia Business Journal May 3rd 2011 by John George