Press Release

For Immediate Release
Contact: Susan Preston
(973) 972-7265

At UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School
Groundbreaking Ceremony Held for New $72 Million Child Health Institute

A groundbreaking ceremony for a new $72-million Child Health Institute of New Jersey, a state-of-the art biomedical research facility for diseases that affect children, took place on Monday, Oct. 28, in New Brunswick.

The institute, part of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School of the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey (UMDNJ), will house 150,000 square feet of research laboratories, a pediatric clinical research center, and academic offices and patient care facilities for the Department of Pediatrics.

Dr. Harold L. Paz, dean of UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, hosted the ground-breaking event. Also speaking were Mr. Harvey Holzberg, chairman of the UMDNJ Board of Trustees and president of Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital; Dr. Stuart D. Cook, UMDNJ president; Mr. Roland Machold, vice chair of the Child Health Institute Board of Trustees; Congressman Frank Pallone, Jr., (D-6th District); Mr. Mark Broadhurst, district director for Congressman Rodney Frelinghuysen (R-11th District); James Cahill, mayor of New Brunswick; Mr. Roger Fine, vice president and general counsel for Johnson & Johnson and chairman of the Foundation of UMDNJ Board of Trustees; Dr. Daniel Notterman, chairman of the Department of Pediatrics of the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School; and Dr. Robert Trelstad, acting director of the Child Health Institute.

Also expected to participate were students from the Health Sciences & Technology High School of New Brunswick, St. Peter Elementary School, and the Mario Gonzalez Child Development Center.

The Institute will be linked physically and programmatically with the clinical services at Robert Wood Johnson University Hospital and its Bristol Myers Squibb Children's Hospital, the medical school's new Cardiovascular Institute and The Cancer Institute of New Jersey. Faculty from the Center for Advanced Biotechnology & Medicine and the Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute, joint programs of the UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and Rutgers University, will also collaborate on research projects.

Dr. Paz noted that the new facility "will be a model in modern translational medicine, bringing medicine from the bench to the bedside seamlessly. The real winners are the children and families who will benefit from the important discoveries and compassionate care."

Mr. Holzberg said, "This Institute is part of a plan to create a center for excellence in developmental biology and pediatric care."

Dr. Cook said, "The Child Health Institute is an important addition to UMDNJ-Robert Wood Johnson Medical School and offers the hope for preventing and curing many chronic diseases affecting our greatest resource, our children. This building is part of a $518 million statewide capital construction program, an investment by UMDNJ to enhance biomedical research and education in New Jersey."

Mr. Machold said "We expect great things to happen at the Child Health Institute over the coming years especially at the interface of basic biology and clinical care. We look forward to expanding our understanding of the complex process of development."

Mayor Cahill applauded the project as another example of "the on-going revitalization of New Brunswick and a reinforcement of the City's identity as the Healthcare City. The Child Health Institute is not simply a think tank. It is a jobs program. Building new high tech facilities creates jobs throughout the region. The research enterprise is an economic engine. Not only will there be construction jobs, but also there will jobs for scientists, technicians, management, and office support personnel."

The Institute's mission is to improve child health and quality of life by discovering the causes of childhood diseases and how disordered development leads to illnesses which can continue into adulthood. It will provide scientific and administrative core resources to support research programs encompassing genes, development and the environment. Fourteen new faculty will direct teams of visiting scientists, postdoctoral fellows, graduate students and technicians for a full complement of about 130 employees.

The building is a development project of the University in partnership with the New Brunswick Development Corporation (DevCo). The building and its programs are funded by resources from the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation, the Johnson and Johnson family of companies, the federal and state governments as well as individual donors.

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