Page 36 - RE-NJ Nov.2021 #59
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34 NOVEMBER 2021
 A ‘HUB’ FOR COLLABORATION
Murphy, industry leaders break ground on long-awaited New Brunswick research campus
 By Joshua Burd
Construction is underway for a two-building, 555,000-square- foot research complex in New
Brunswick, the future home of the state’s flagship medical school and a place where startups can work side by side with New Jersey’s top health care and academic institutions.
Known as the New Jersey Innovation and Technology Hub, the $665 million project will be home to both the Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the Rutgers Translational Research facility, which will allow for collaboration among scientists from varied backgrounds. Both uses will complement an innovation center that will feature collaborative workspaces, wet and
dry laboratories, conference facilities and other amenities that will allow researchers to convene with budding technology and life sciences firms.
Those researchers figure to come from The Hub’s high-profile partners — including Rutgers University, RWJBarnabas Health and Hackensack Meridian Health — and its first tenant, Princeton University. New Brunswick Development Corp., or Devco, is spearheading the overall project, in
a plan that will transform a four-acre parcel in the downtown.
“It will be a place where doctors and researchers will work shoulder to shoulder on innovative treatments and solutions, from bench to bedside,”
The first phase of the New Jersey Innovation and Technology Hub, a 555,000-square-foot research complex in New Brunswick, will comprise a new Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and the Rutgers Translational Research facility, along with an innovation center that
will feature collaborative workspaces, wet and dry laboratories, conference facilities and other amenities that will allow researchers to convene with startups and entrepreneurs.
Gov. Phil Murphy said during an Oct. 14 groundbreaking ceremony. “Think about it this way: The Hub will be
that rare standalone center where clinicians and researchers from across the pharma and life science sectors can have immediate and daily access to academic and industry experts as they fine-tune
University Hospital.
“Medical education has changed dramatically,”
Paladino said,
noting that the
  their advances — and, by the way, to the investors they will need to then take those advances to market, where they can then treat patients around the world.
two-year medical
school dates
back to the
1960s. “Probably
the most
important thing
is that medical
students today start going into the hospital and seeing patients from day one. It’s not in that third and fourth year anymore, so we wanted to bring them down next to the hospital.”
Devco has spent several years laying the groundwork for the project, which sits directly across from
the city’s train station, prompting Murphy to identify the site in 2018 as a focal point for growing health care, higher education and technology
in the state. Last fall, the governor announced the commitments from Rutgers, Hackensack Meridian and RWJBarnabas as The Hub’s first three partners, with Princeton as its first tenant, paving the way for a groundbreaking at the site.
The state in October announced the addition of the medical school and the translational research facility, along with the Economic Development Authority, Devco and Middlesex County as core partners. Choose New Jersey, the state’s not-for-profit business attraction agency, will also be a tenant.
“It’s always a question that we get asked: What does all this mean to
the person on the street?” said Barry Ostrowsky, CEO and president of RWJBarnabas Health. “What it means
Christopher Paladino
  Gov. Phil Murphy
 “This is how we purpose-build a diverse economy and an innovative ecosystem for long-term success.”
Murphy was among the many public officials and stakeholders on hand at the property, which sits just south of Albany Street between Kirkpatrick and Spring streets. He added that, when complete, The Hub “will leverage and put on clear display and under one roof everything New Jersey offers
— our world-leading institutions of higher education and our world-class health networks, our access to global markets and venture capital and our diverse, highly educated and highly skilled workforce.”
According to Christopher Paladino, Devco’s president, the larger building will encompass roughly 420,000 square feet and include both the innovation center and the Rutgers Translational Research facility. The new medical school will occupy the second building next door, providing important direct access to Robert Wood Johnson
        


























































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