The aim of the new biomedical academic research hub is to generate and facilitate scientific collaborations. The building is called the Louis A. Simpson and Kimberly K. Querrey Biomedical Research Center. The new project becomes the biggest new building dedicated to biomedical research in any medical school in the U.S.
The new center is not only of benefit in terms of research focus, it will additionally create a boost of the economy. As a result of the build, there will be 2,000 new high-paying, full-time jobs created. Furthermore, to support the project some 2,500 construction were created. It is expected that these workers will generate an additional $390 million a year in economic activity in Chicago.
The building is 12-stories in height, with curved-glass exteriors and light-filled laboratory spaces dubbed as “neighborhoods”. The area is connected in terms of interconnecting spaces and with using the latest digital technology.
On opening the new base, Dr. Eric G. Neilson, who is the Lewis Landsberg Dean of Northwestern University Feinberg School of Medicine, said: “The Simpson Querrey Biomedical Research Center is an inspired new home for discovery on Northwestern University’s Chicago medical campus.”
He adds: “Inside this modern new building, scientists will pioneer discoveries that will impact the practice of medicine and transform human health. Here, we will accelerate the pace of lifesaving medical science that fuels the local and national economy, near world-class campus partners and in a global city with unrivaled opportunities for biomedical commercialization and entrepreneurship.”
The opening of the building is captured in the following video:
In terms of U.S. National Institutes of Health funding, Northwestern has risen from 39th to 15th in the ranking for funding over the time period 2002 to 2018. This climb means that the medical school is now able to attract an additional $150 million a year in new research funding. In all the funding is projected to hit $1.5 billion in ten years.
The building is designed for a future expansion with the capability for its size to be doubled vertically, containing up to 16 new floors for a future state second phase of construction.
