President Karen Holbrook was among the six people donning scarlet hard hats for the groundbreaking of the University Medical Center Biomedical Research Tower yesterday on 12th Avenue.
As a former biomedical scientist, Holbrook understands the impact the new building will have on both Ohio State and the Columbus community.
“There is no other area as important as biomedical research,” Holbrook said. “It touches every one of us.”
The $151 million tower will nearly double the amount of biomedical research space on campus with 372,000 square feet of laboratories, which were designed with the help of researchers.
Using a new model for medical research, the tower has been designed with open, flexible lab space which will enable researchers to break down department barriers and share ideas.
Fred Sanfilippo, CEO of OSU’s Medical Center, opened the groundbreaking ceremony.
“The Biomedical Research Tower will be a dynamic force in the knowledge community in central Ohio. It is the key first step in improving research space, thus attracting top researchers from all over the world,” Sanfilippo said.
Within 10 years of its completion, it is expected the research facility will generate 17,000 new jobs and create a $3.7 billion boost to Ohio’s economy.
Scheduled to open in December of 2006, the tower will feature research labs dedicated to experimental theraputics, heart and lung disease, neurobiology of disease, imaging, microbial pathogenesis, diabetes and cytogenetics.
“The Biomedical Research Tower will help to facilitate collaborative research, which will promote the creation, development and commercialization of knowledge,” said Zuheir Sofia, chair of the Ohio State Board of Trustees.
Discoveries in the tower will bring research into the trenches of the medical field – the patient’s bedside.
But for some Columbus residents, the promise of increased research in areas such as Alzhiemer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and heart failure is not enough.
Six members of Protect Our Earth’s Treasures and a dog stood across the street from the ground breaking holding signs and shouting protests.
Rob Russell, POET director, organized the protest with the goal of exposing the research Ohio State laboratories have done in the past involving animals.
“In their strive to be No. 1, things start going downhill in other areas,” Russell said. “They forget that part of their goals is to treat animals well. That is why we are out here. That’s our primary goal.”
The Biomedical Research week ends today with a symposium on experimental therapeutics at 3:30 p.m. in the Heart and Lung Research Institute Auditorium.
