Colket Translational Research Building
3501 Civic Center Boulevard, Philadelphia, PA 19104
Since its inception in 2007, the Center for Childhood Cancer Research (CCCR) has brought together a diverse group of researchers focused on pursuing cures through innovative approaches to treatment. The only thing lacking was space to house the entire multidisciplinary team.
That changed in the fall of 2009, when the Center moved into the Colket Translational Research Building on the Hospital's South Campus. Approximately 30 CCCR investigators, spanning the spectrum from basic to translational research, now occupy clinical and lab space within the building.
The entire premise of the CCCR is to capture the synergy between disciplines, and the new physical space has been designed to encourage that process. The labs, for instance, are strategically placed to bring together areas of emphasis that might not otherwise interact. "Close physical proximity provides much more opportunity for interaction," says John M. Maris, M.D., Center director and chief of the Division of Oncology. There is also simply more room.
Lab space has expanded from 14,000 square feet to 56,000. Maris also sees an enormous opportunity for recruitment: "We now have the space and the resources to attract even more top-level scientists." The very best scientific minds will be essential to realizing the Center's vision of personalized medicine. As Maris notes, "Cancer treatment today requires that we change the way we think about the disease, to be more proactive for each patient. Our Center is designed to bring people and tools together to deliver on that promise."
The Colket Translational Research Building is the result of the single largest gift to CHOP's Hope Lives Here campaign. Longtime supporters and Hospital Trustees Ruth M. and Tristram C. Colket Jr. saw the potential in state-of-the-art laboratory space and generously provided funding to get the building started.
