PHILADELPHIA – National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director Francis Collins, MD, PhD, will join Penn scientists and physicians in celebrating the opening of the new Translational Research Center (TRC) Tuesday. The TRC 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. Dr. 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, TRC 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 TRC 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 TRC also received $159 million for construction of lab space from ARRA, or “stimulus,” funds from NIH.

WHERE: The Translational Research Center, 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
 
 
6:15Panel 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
 
Please contact Karen Kreeger at 215-349-5658, karen.kreeger@uphs.upenn.edu if you plan to attend.