Nation’s first research, innovation campus focused on children’s health launches in DC
The old Walter Reed Army Medical Center location in northwest D.C. is beginning a new chapter of caring for the community — and this time the focus is on children.
The Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus is the result of a partnership between Children’s National Hospital, Virginia Tech and Johnson & Johnson Innovation – JLABS.
The new campus will feature: research into new treatments and technologies for kids, and what’s described as a life science incubator that will include about 50 start-up companies working to transition research findings out of laboratories and to the public.
“Fusing together strengths in cancer research, neuroscience and computer engineering gives Virginia Tech a great opportunity to grow its physical presence in the D.C. area with a holistic purpose,” Michael Friedlander, Virginia Tech’s vice president for health sciences and technology said in a news release.
Friedlander is also the executive director of VTC’s Fralin Biomedical Research Institute in Roanoke, Virginia.
“The research partnership with Children’s National strategically triangulates the Virginia Tech’s billion-dollar investments in Southwest Virginia, the emerging Virginia Tech Innovation Campus in Alexandria and now the Children’s National Research & Innovation Campus in Washington, D.C.,” the statement said.
This is the second collaboration between Johnson & Johnson and Children’s National, according to the J&J website. Through either sponsorship or membership, the partners founded Safe Kids Worldwide, which is a nonprofit that works to help families and communities keep kids safe from injuries.
As they get ready for a phased launch of the Children’s National research campus this summer, recruitment is now underway to bring in start-ups from the pharmaceutical, medical device, consumer and health technology fields.
The campus is adjacent to other developments on the old Walter Reed property — The Parks at Walter Reed and the State Department’s Foreign Mission Center.