Saunders Research Building

| Time Lapse Video of CTSB Construction |

The Clinical and Translational Sciences Building opened on April 8, 2011, at which time it was named for local businessman and University donor E. Philip Saunders.

References
2009 Construction of New Research Building Underway, June 22, 2009
The University of Rochester Medical Center has begun construction on the Clinical and Translational Science Building (CTSB), a $76.4 million project that will serve as the hub of resources, expertise, and networks necessary to accelerate the clinical application of biomedical research. The project has received $50 million in support from New York State.
“The Clinical and Translational Science Building represents the kind of public investment in research that can advance medicine and strengthen local economic growth,” said Joel Seligman, president of the University of Rochester. “Governor David Paterson, New York Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver, and the local Rochester Assembly delegation are to be commended for their commitment to make this vision into a reality.”
“The CTSB represents one of the cornerstones of the Medical Center’s future plans,” said Mark Taubman, M.D., acting CEO of the Medical Center. “This facility will make the Medical Center a more efficient and effective clinical science enterprise and a stronger competitor for government and private research dollars.”
The facility, which will be the first of its kind in the nation, will serve as a home for the University’s Clinical and Translational Science Institute. The Institute was created in the wake of a $40 million grant from the National Institutes of Health in 2006. The Rochester grant – which is the largest NIH award in the School of Medicine and Dentistry’s (SMD) history – was one of the first announced by the agency under a national initiative to re-engineer clinical research.
“The CTSB represents the culmination of a decades long effort to create an integrated academic home for clinical research at the University of Rochester,” said David Guzick, M.D., Ph.D., dean of the SMD and principal investigator of the NIH grant. “This facility will create an environment that will effectively catalyze the translation of basic science discoveries into clinically useful knowledge and treatments to improve health and health care.”
Once completed, the CTSB will be occupied by 600 scientists, physicians, nurses, statisticians, research administrators, and support staff. The facility will bring together under one roof several important resources that help researchers design clinical trials, recruit participants, collect and evaluate data, and collaborate with industry and other partners. It will contain training and education programs and clinical and translational research initiatives for neurological disorders, cancer, pediatrics, health promotion with the Deaf community, and cardiovascular disease.  The building will also serve as coordinating center for the Upstate New York Translational Research Network – a consortium of 13 biomedical research institutions in a geographic region stretching from Albany to Buffalo.
“Clinical research is a fundamentally multi-disciplinary undertaking requiring close coordination and collaboration among researchers and support staff,” said Thomas A. Pearson, M.D., M.P.H., Ph.D., director of the CTSI. “Bringing these resources together into a facility will help accelerate biomedical innovation and the CTSB will have several novel architectural features that will encourage interaction among investigators and foster team-building.”
The 200,000 square foot, four story building is being constructed adjacent to Helen Wood Hall and the two buildings will share a common lobby. Last month the site was cleared and fenced and initially utility relocation has commenced. Excavation for the foundation will commence later in the summer and the building’s superstructure will start to rise in the fall. The project is expected to be completed in the summer of 2011.
LeChase Construction of Rochester is the construction manager for the CTSB which was designed by Philadelphia-based architects Francis Cauffman along with Rochester’s Bergmann Associates and BR&A Engineers from Boston. Donald Blair & Partners Architects provided preliminary space programming and site planning, along with Mark Chen Architect who has served as a consultant for the Medical Center.
The building incorporates several design features that will increase energy efficiency and the Medical Center intends to seek a Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification, which will make CTSB the first LEED-certified building on the University of Rochester campus.
According to the Center for Governmental Research, the project will create 830 construction jobs and hundreds of permanent jobs both at the Medical Center and in the community with a total annual economic impact of $30 million.

2011 "Clinical and Translational Sciences Building  Ribbon Cutting and Educational Symposium Announced," Emergency Medicine, March 2011
On  October  27,  2008  the  University  of  Rochester  Medical  Center  (URMC)  broke  ground  on  the Clinical  and  Translational  Science  Building  (CTSB), a facility that will help accelerate scientific discoveries into new ways to understand, treat, prevent, and cure diseases.  April 8, 2011 will mark the  grand  opening of the CTSB building, which will be the first of its kind to be constructed in the nation. A ribbon cutting  ceremony is scheduled for 11am that  morning, followed by tours of the building.

2011 "Medical Center Opens New Building Dedicated to Advancing Care," April 8, 2011
University of Rochester officials were joined today by Lt. Governor Robert Duffy and New York State Assembly Speaker Sheldon Silver to officially open the doors on a new research building at the Medical Center dedicated to cutting the time it takes to turn new ideas into better care for patients.
“While our understanding of disease and the role of behavior and the environment on health has exploded over the last several decades, the reality is that the application of this new knowledge does not happen as regularly or easily as we would like,” said Bradford C. Berk, M.D., Ph.D., CEO of University of Rochester Medical Center.  “This facility was created with the understanding that the future of medicine will be driven by institutions that assemble the teams and create the environment necessary to follow through on discoveries and make them relevant in terms of improving health.”
“This building positions the University of Rochester Medical Center at the forefront of a national movement to break down the barriers between the lab and the lives of people,” said Joel Seligman, president of the University of Rochester.  “We are deeply grateful for the investment made by New York State – under the leadership of the governor’s office, Speaker Silver, and Assemblymen Morelle and Gantt – in the construction of this facility.  This support was essential and the work that will go on inside this building will help propel local economic growth, foster academic and private partnerships, and improve health.”
The concept of creating a physical home for clinical research at URMC gained momentum in October 2006 when the Medical Center was one of the first institutions in the nation to receive a Clinical and Translational Science Award from the National Institutes of Health (NIH).  This $40 million award – the largest in URMC history – allowed the Medical Center to build programs designed to accelerate the application of medical research.  Soon after, the Medical Center committed to create a facility in which these activities – and many of the research programs they support – could reside.  In 2008, then-Governors Elliot Spitzer and David Paterson and the New York State Assembly proposed and ultimately approved $50 million in capital support for the project.
It was also announced today that the facility will be named the Saunders Research Building in honor of local businessman E. Philip Saunders for his decades of support for research at URMC.  Earlier this week, the Medical Center announced a $10 million gift from Saunders to support research programs in muscular dystrophy, cancer, and translational medicine.  In agreeing to lend his name to this building, Saunders has requested that it honor those who have served in the country’s armed forces. Within the Saunders Research Building, a display will be created to serve as a lasting reminder of his gratitude for their sacrifice.
“We are deeply grateful to Phil for his decades of support – much of it done anonymously – for muscular dystrophy research,” said Berk.  “I can think of no more appropriate way to recognize their long dedication to advancing promising research than naming a building that embodies that goal in their honor.”
The Saunders Research Building will serve as the hub of clinical and translational medicine for both the Medical Center and a network of researchers across the state.  It will be home to the Clinical and Translational Science Institute (CTSI) which was created in 2007 to provide researchers with the comprehensive set of services, expertise, and resources necessary to carry out all phases of translational research from the point where a new idea is first tested in humans all the way to evaluating the cost and effectiveness of new therapies on a community-wide scale.  The CTSI also funds pilot research, oversees new graduate programs in translational medicine, and serves as the nucleus for a network of 16 biomedical research centers in upstate New York.
The building will also house independent URMC research programs in cardiovascular disease, neurological disorders, cancer, pediatrics, and emergency medicine, the Departments of Community & Preventive Medicine and Biostatistics & Computational Biology, and the Office for Human Subject Protection.

© 2021 Morris A. Pierce