PHILADELPHIA - National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins, MD, PhD, will join Penn scientists and physicians in celebrating the opening of the new Smilow Center for Translational Research (SCTR) Tuesday. The SCTR is the first medical research building on the Penn campus - and one of the first anywhere - to be physically integrated into facilities for patient care, namely the Perelman Center for Advanced Medicine and the Roberts Proton Therapy Center. Collins will deliver the keynote address at the event, which will honor the many basic researchers and clinicians who have made this interdisciplinary center for learning, discovery, and healing a reality.
Just a month ago, the first of several hundred researchers started moving into the $370 million facility. Among other translational research activities, SCTR will now be the home for three Penn institutes created in early 2005: the Institute for Diabetes, Obesity, and Metabolism; the Institute for Translational Medicine and Therapeutics; and the Penn Cardiovascular Institute. The aim of research in the SCTR is to look for new approaches to understanding and treating a wide spectrum of diseases that are most prevalent in society, including cancer, diabetes, and atherosclerosis. In 2010, the SCTR also received $159 million for lab construction from ARRA, or “stimulus,” funds from NIH.
WHERE: The Smilow Center for Translational Research, 3400 Civic Center Blvd., Philadelphia, PA 19104
WHEN: May 3, 2011, 5:00 to 8:00 PM
WHO:
5:00 to 5:10
Welcome Remarks
Amy Gutmann, PhD, President of the University of Pennsylvania
Arthur H. Rubenstein, MBBCh, Dean of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
5:10 Keynote Address
Francis S. Collins, MD, PhD,
Director of the National Institutes of Health
6:15 Panel Discussion
Moderator Glen N. Gaulton, PhD, Executive Vice Dean and Chief Scientific Officer, University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine
Panelists: Carl June, MD; Mitch Lazar, MD, PhD; Jonathan Epstein, MD; Michael Parmacek, MD; Amita Sehgal, PhD; and Shelley Berger, PhD
Penn Medicine is one of the world’s leading academic medical centers, dedicated to the related missions of medical education, biomedical research, excellence in patient care, and community service. The organization consists of the University of Pennsylvania Health System and Penn’s Raymond and Ruth Perelman School of Medicine, founded in 1765 as the nation’s first medical school.
The Perelman School of Medicine is consistently among the nation's top recipients of funding from the National Institutes of Health, with $550 million awarded in the 2022 fiscal year. Home to a proud history of “firsts” in medicine, Penn Medicine teams have pioneered discoveries and innovations that have shaped modern medicine, including recent breakthroughs such as CAR T cell therapy for cancer and the mRNA technology used in COVID-19 vaccines.
The University of Pennsylvania Health System’s patient care facilities stretch from the Susquehanna River in Pennsylvania to the New Jersey shore. These include the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, Penn Presbyterian Medical Center, Chester County Hospital, Lancaster General Health, Penn Medicine Princeton Health, and Pennsylvania Hospital—the nation’s first hospital, founded in 1751. Additional facilities and enterprises include Good Shepherd Penn Partners, Penn Medicine at Home, Lancaster Behavioral Health Hospital, and Princeton House Behavioral Health, among others.
Penn Medicine is an $11.1 billion enterprise powered by more than 49,000 talented faculty and staff.