Construction Begins for New Health Sciences Research Building

Facility Includes Pediatric Research Partnership Between Emory and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta

Construction of a new Health Sciences Research Building on the Emory University campus will kick off with an official groundbreaking on June 15.

More than half of the new facility on Haygood Drive will focus on pediatric research through the Emory-Children’s Pediatric Research Center, a partnership between Emory and Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, who will work closely with key affiliates including Georgia Tech and Morehouse School of Medicine.

“In breaking ground for this new building, we celebrate our long partnership with Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the momentum of our growing research collaborations,” says S. Wright Caughman, MD, Emory Executive Vice President for Health Affairs and CEO of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center. “This partnership will lead to continued medical advances that will benefit pediatric and adult patients in Georgia and throughout the world and will help Emory and Children’s reach the top ranks of pediatric research institutions.”

The new building will encompass 200,000 gross square feet, with four stories above ground and one floor below grade. In addition to a number of pediatric focus areas, the new research building will include investigations in adult cancer, immunology and drug discovery.

“This is another monumental day for Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta, Emory and for the children of Georgia and beyond as we are excited for the chance to further develop a robust pediatric research program,” says Donna Hyland, President and CEO, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta. “Atlanta is blessed with many fine institutions – like Emory – who believe in collaboration, and we will continue to grow because it’s the collaboration among our clinical and academic professionals that will determine how much we are able to provide for Georgia’s children now and in the future.”

A two-story working bridge will connect the new building to the Emory-Children’s Center building, adjacent to Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta and the home of Emory’s Department of Pediatrics. In addition to research space, the Emory-Children’s Center also houses a pediatric outpatient center, the largest pediatric specialty group practice in Georgia.

“The bridge that links the new research building to the Emory-Children’s Center is an architectural highlight and gateway to the Emory campus. But more importantly, the bridge is a symbolic link between Emory and Children’s and reflects our shared commitment to child health,” says Barbara J. Stoll, MD, George W. Brumley Jr. Chair, Department of Pediatrics, Emory University School of Medicine and Senior Vice President and Chief Academic Officer, Children’s Healthcare of Atlanta.

The building’s open design, accommodating 65 lead researchers and their teams, will feature natural light in laboratories and corridors. The building will include a 175-seat auditorium and a café dining area with outside seating.

Designed by architecture firm ZGF (Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects LLP), the building is expected to be LEED-silver certified, with completion expected in April 2013.

With a cost of approximately $90 million, the building will be funded primarily through philanthropic contributions, including a grant from the Joseph B. Whitehead Foundation, the Robert W. Woodruff Foundation Inc., the O. Wayne Rollins Foundation, the Zeist Foundation Inc., Dr. Raymond Schinazi funds, the Georgia Research Alliance and two anonymous foundations.