Transformations in Research: New Research Institute to Focus on Childhood Ailments

Project Result of Public/Private Partnership

This is the third installment in a 2004 series of columns highlighting new methodologies, approaches, and technological innovations in academic research.

By Whitney L.J. Howell

The Child Health Institute of New Jersey's 150,000-square-foot facility is scheduled to open in April 2005.

Members of New Jersey's research community are excited about plans for a new cancer institute that will focus solely on childhood ailments. The Child Health Institute of New Jersey (CHINJ) is described by its advocates as the "best of a public and private partnership." Financial supporters seem to agree. Since the idea of the institute first surfaced in 1995 to the current push for a new facility, the institute has managed to raise over $70 million in private, corporate, and government funds.

CHINJ will be part of the Robert Wood Johnson Medical School (RWJMS) and will be located in New Brunswick, N.J. "It's designed to be the premier research facility, focusing on developmental biology, specifically in diseases that affect children," says Elizabeth Garlatti, the executive director. Already on the list of diseases to be tackled and researched are autism, diabetes, cardiac defects, neurological disorders, and birth defects.

Currently, the institute is midway through construction of its $72 million, 150,000-square-foot facility. Garlatti says CHINJ enjoyed its "topping off ceremony," celebrating the completion of the steel framework and the beginning of the remaining stages of construction this past November. The facility is set to open in April 2005.

In 1995, discussions began between Robert Wood Johnson Foundation (RWJF) and Johnson & Johnson about the possibility of building a new cancer institute, says Robert Trelstad, M.D., CHINJ's acting director. The concept for CHINJ resulted, and Johnson & Johnson and RWJF provided $6 million and $22 million respectively to get the project started.

Before plans for the institute were developed, RWJMS conducted a study on the future of medical science in research. Outside consultants assessed the strengths and weaknesses of each part of the RWJMS campus, and, Garlatti says, they determined that developmental biology, which focuses on children as they grow into adulthood, was the best field for the medical school to capitalize on its strengths.

Robert Trelstad, M.D., CHINJ's acting director (right), describes the new facility as the "best of a public and private partnership."

Since that point, institute advocates and researchers have secured funding from a variety of places, including the federal government ($8 million from various agencies) and the state of New Jersey ($1 million a year). Other funding, from charities and other private and public organizations, totals $40 million. Garlatti says the institute, in partnership with New Brunswick Development Corporation and RWJMS, has supplied the remaining cost of the building by offering certificates of participation.

"We've been fortunate that the appeal of research on treatment, prevention, and disease elimination has resonated very well in the public and private sectors," Garlatti says.

At the moment, the institute does not have a permanent director. However, Garlatti says, they hope to bring a new director on board by June, giving the individual time to meet with the RWJMS's deans and department chairs and determine the research paths the facility will follow. Recruitment of institute faculty will begin once the new director is in place.

But some CHINJ projects are already underway thanks to some of the medical faculty and researchers from the school's pediatric, surgery, neurology, and pathology departments, Garlatti says. "Developmental biology finds itself happening in all areas of medical disciplines," she adds, explaining the presence of a wide spectrum of disciplines.

When the faculty are assembled, they will focus on the molecular and genetic markers that directly affect development and growth in children, as well as the diseases and disorders, such as childhood diabetes or autism, that appear during youth. The results of this research will eventually be used to search for cures of various childhood ailments. For example, Garlatti says some researchers will work with neuroscience and cell biology to study causes and interactions with autism speech disorders.

Once completed, the five-story building will provide a basement transgenic research facility, space for the departments of pediatrics and surgery, a pediatric clinical research center on the first and second floors, and a basic science research facility on the third and fourth floors. In total, the facility will house about 40 research labs and support facilities for senior-level researchers. These researchers will oversee the various faculty members, visiting scientists, graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, and technicians who will work in the institute.

"Over the last 40 years, there have been great advances in medical care from the combined efforts of scientific research labs, biology, molecular genetics, and devices," Dr. Trelstad says. "There's no question we're working [at CHINJ] to develop an interface to establish a beneficial flow between all these parties."

The CHINJ facility will be located in an area that is already heavily populated by the healthcare industry. The Bristol-Myers Squibb Children's Hospital and The Cancer Institute of New Jersey are within a few minutes' walk. Eventually, the Children's Specialized Hospital will join the group. All three facilities will be physically connected by pathways and crosswalks, as well as professionally connected through the sharing of research projects and investigators.

"We're on quite a roll," Trelstad says. "We're excited about services that will support and protect people here in New Jersey."

Contact Us    © 1995-2008 AAMC    Terms and Conditions    Privacy Statement