Contact: Ellen Bank
843.792.2626
Feb. 7, 2001
CHARLESTON, S.C. -- Today some 300 guests jointed SC Governor Jim Hodges in groundbreaking ceremonies for the new Children's Research Institute to be built on the Medical University campus.
When the 121,000-square-foot institute opens early in 2004, it will be the largest and most comprehensive pediatric research facility in the Carolinas. The architect for the project is LS3P Associates, Ltd.
The MUSC Children's Hospital was completed in 1987. It provides services in all the pediatric sub specialties and has just recently been named by Child Magazine as one of the top 10 pediatric facilities in the country.
The Children's Research Institute will take the university's commitment to children's health to another level. The building will provide researchers with the space to discover the causes and cures for ailments that continue to afflict children in alarming numbers, including cancer, congenital heart disease, multiple sclerosis and diabetes.
"With the recent selection of the Children's Hospital as one of the 10 best in the country, the Medical University is now established as a leader nationally in children's health." said MUSC president Ray Greenberg, M.D., PhD. "To remain in the forefront, we must expand our research capacity, and the groundbreaking for the Children's Research Institute declares our intent to meet that challenge. We have made extraordinary progress under the leadership of Dr. Charles Darby, chairman of the Department of Pediatrics. He has built a premier department and the Children's Research Institute is the capstone to his vision for improving the health of South Carolina's children."
Greenberg said that having a dedicated research facility will strengthen the hospital's clinical services, in several ways.
First, it will help attract and retain the country's top pediatricians. In addition, it will enable the Children's Hospital to compete more effectively for research grants, generating more funds for pediatric research. Finally it means that the hospital will be able to offer patients the latest groundbreaking new treatments.
The institute will cost an estimated $36 million to build. Already, the university has secured $20 million in state bonds; the remaining $16 million will need to be raised through philanthropic gifts.
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