Atlanta (AP) On Wednesday, the nonprofit organization that runs Shriners Children’s hospitals throughout North America revealed plans to build a $153 million medical research facility in Atlanta.
Cell and gene therapies, other biotechnology therapies, robotics, artificial intelligence, medical devices, and data analysis are among the areas of study that Shriners Children’s Research Institute plans to pursue.
In addition to clinics, Shriners Children’s has 17 hospitals in the US and one each in Mexico and Canada. The Masonic organization Shriners International is the owner of the system. Children with burns, urological illnesses, orthopedic issues, and craniofacial defects like cleft lips and palates are among its specialties. The organization claims to treat patients regardless of their financial situation, even though it takes insurance payments.
Mel Bower, a spokesman for Shriners Children’s, stated that the health care system has decided to increase our involvement in pediatric research. According to him, the institute should be up and running in a year or 18 months and will be funded using Shriners Children’s resources.
Georgia Tech stated that it will be the biggest tenant at Science Square and that the institute anticipates having 470 employees, many of whom will be new hires. Georgia Tech and the Trammell Crow Company are working on that mixed-use project.
Georgia Tech constructed labs that opened last year, and the company owns the site next to its campus near downtown Atlanta. The goal of the project is to replicate Georgia Tech’s achievements in collaborating with tech firms in Atlanta’s Midtown area. In recent years, Atlanta’s IT industry has been a key engine of growth, and policymakers are also attempting to support growth from biomedical research.
According to Georgia Tech’s lead engineer of pediatric technology, Leanne West, the school has already worked with Shriners Children’s on 25 projects. The institution will receive research expertise from both Georgia Tech and Emory University, she said, and she hopes that institute staff will be able to collaborate with Georgia Tech academics.
According to West, the objective is to physically be there at Georgia Tech, walk across campus, and work in the same labs as some of their researchers. By doing that, I believe we can achieve amazing things.
Since NGOs are often excluded from income and property taxes, it is unclear exactly how the state and local governments’ incentives for Shriners Children’s will operate. Since nonprofits in Georgia are required to pay sales taxes, the state may be able to exempt equipment purchases from these taxes. According to Georgia Department of Economic Development spokesman Jessica Atwell, the state will not make the records public until they are completed.
