Researchers, community members, students, officials and more mark a pivotal moment as work begins on the 335,000-square-foot research facility.
The Gilbert Family Foundation also celebrates the groundbreaking of the Nick Gilbert Neurofibromatosis Research Institute
It was a morning punctuated by celebration, collaboration and a visit from Michigan State University mascot, Sparty, as hundreds gathered to recognize the start of construction on the Henry Ford Health + Michigan State University Health Sciences Research Center in the New Center neighborhood.
Work on the $335 million research facility — a hallmark of the 30-year partnership between the two Michigan institutions — officially began in late May. The health sciences research center is the first physical embodiment of the Henry Ford + MSU partnership and will further enable groundbreaking discoveries and translational research for which the partnership is becoming known. A key focus in this research is closing the gap in health care outcomes for people based on race, ethnicity, gender and socioeconomic status. In addition, it is MSU’s largest research facility, designed to house more than 80 principal investigator teams.
“When Michigan State and Henry Ford first embarked on this partnership, we knew and believed in what was possible,” said Kevin M. Guskiewicz, Ph.D., president of MSU. “Now, our health sciences research is unified under the partnership, we have the top-funded women’s health research program in the nation, and our researchers have the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to make discoveries that will definitively improve the lives and health of countless individuals.”
The research center is a foundational component of the Future of Health: Detroit, a $3 billion development between Henry Ford, MSU, and Tom Gores and the Detroit Pistons meant to reimagine and redefine health and well-being for our Detroit community and beyond. The development will be anchored by a major Henry Ford Hospital expansion and features mixed-income housing and retail development by the Detroit Pistons.
“I am so energized not only by the life-changing research that’s already happening within the partnership, but also by the prospect of what more we can accomplish together inside the walls of the cutting-edge research center we are building in Detroit,” said Bob Riney, president and CEO of Henry Ford Health. “We have a unique opportunity in front of us to meaningfully impact the health of the diverse population we serve through our collective research, while also serving as a national model for the power and potential of university and health care collaboration.”