Chicago Construction News staff writer
The University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, Northwestern University, and the University of Chicago have been selected by the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) to launch a new biomedical research hub.
“Illinois continues to grow as a thriving innovation hub with world-class research institutions and top-tier talent,” said Governor JB Pritzker. “We’re incredibly proud that three Illinois universities will play a critical role in launching the newest endeavor that is a part of the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative creating CZ BioHub Chicago, a biomedical research hub that will take medical research to a new level.”
Selected through a highly-competitive year-long application process, the Illinois team was chosen from 58 applicants. The State has committed $25 million in capital funds for the Chicago site – the first expansion of the CZ Biohub Network. The site will include laboratories, meeting spaces, a biofoundry and more. Northwestern professor Shana Kelley will serve as president of the new hub.
“The partnership between the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network and our state’s leading scientific and technology institutions fortifies Illinois’ position as a global leader in bioscience and technology and lays the groundwork for trailblazing, life-saving medical advances through CZ Biohub Chicago,” said Acting DCEO Director Kristin A. Richards.
The CZ Biohub Chicago’s collaborative model for scientific research will have profound implications for health and medicine, with the goal of creating new therapeutics, and catalyzing biotechnology in high impact areas such as regenerative medicine.
