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BY RUTHANN RICHTER

	Courtesy of Zimmer, Gunsul Frasca Architects
	The architect’s rendering of the planned Lorry I. Lokey Stem Cell Research Building, which will house stem cell research with space optimized for experiments by researchers working with adult, embryonic and cancer stem cells.

STANFORD, Calif. —The Stanford University School of Medicine will mark on Oct. 27 the start of construction on the Lorry I. Lokey Stem Cell Research Building, the nation’s largest stem cell research facility, with a scientific symposium and ceremonial groundbreaking.

The 200,000-square-foot building will bring together some 600 scientists now working in scattered locations in a unified effort to capitalize on the power of stem cells in treating human disease. The $200 million building is scheduled to open in the summer of 2010.

“The Lokey Building will have a transforming impact on stem cell biology and regenerative medicine,” said Philip Pizzo, MD, dean of the School of Medicine “While the design of this wonderful facility is important in its own right, the true benefit accrues from the critical mass of spectacular scientists, students and staff who will assemble in this new facility to conduct far-ranging fundamental and applied research that will link to other stem cell initiatives at Stanford and beyond. Decades from now, we will view the Lokey Research Building as one of the catalysts for moving the field of stem cell biology to a new level of excellence and success.”

Scientists in the building will be involved in the full spectrum of stem cell programs, including research in embryonic and adult stem cells, cancer stem cells and the development of disease-specific stem cell lines. They will represent a wide range of disciplines, including neurology, cancer, transplantation, immunology, cardiology, developmental biology and bioengineering.

“What is important is that it will give people the opportunity to apply stem cell thinking to different problems, including regeneration, aging and cancer,” said Irving Weissman, MD, director of the Stanford Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine Institute, which will be housed in the new building.

The four-story facility along Campus Drive will be designed with a look reflective of Stanford’s main quad, with its limestone exterior and red-roof elements, said project manager Chris Shay. The building has an open design to encourage collaboration, with a large atrium lobby, which will also serve as a pedestrian thoroughfare to other parts of the medical school campus. Two major wings, which will lead off of the lobby, will offer private areas for focused research. Within these “neighborhoods,” there will be small, parklike areas to encourage scientists to intermingle, Shay said.

Dispersed around the building will be 60 “hotel” benches reserved for researchers both inside and outside of Stanford who may spend a month or a year at a time working on joint projects. Some of these projects are already under way in which basic researchers have paired with clinicians to work on stem cell-based approaches to such problems as breast cancer and leukemia, Weissman said.

“These collaborations are working spectacularly, and we hope to expand them to other areas,” Weissman said.

He said the building will afford scientists the opportunity to work with their colleagues in ways that haven’t been possible before. For instance, the new building will house a microfluidics laboratory, where scientists will be able to use these new tools to isolate and study rare cells.

“Our ultimate goal is to be able for the first time to figure out the biochemistry of single cells so we can tell one stem cell apart from another,” Weissman said. “We could look at the difference between a neuron that’s involved in depression from one involved in schizophrenia. That way, we can really move this field forward.”

The new building will also expand the work of Stanford’s Cancer Center, which will have a major presence there, said Beverly Mitchell, MD, the center’s director.

“It will provide a whole new base for the cancer center, where we can interact with those across the university working in stem cell biology. It will provide space for our new recruits to enhance our cancer programs,” said Mitchell, the George E. Becker Professor of Medicine. “It will be a huge boost to cancer research.”

The availability of the new space is expected to attract top talent to Stanford in the stem cell field.

“A significant number of spots are being reserved for new faculty recruits,” Shay said. “The building will be attractive to scientists because it will be a hub of our research enterprise.”

The building will be financed through a mix of public and private funds. The California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state stem cell agency, has provided a grant of $43.6 million to help pay for construction. In addition, at least $130 million will come from philanthropic contributions, including a $75 million gift from Lorry I. Lokey, the Business Wire founder for whom the building is named. Other gifts include $10 million from Mill Valley, Calif., investment banker John Scully and his wife, Regina; and a gift from Thomas Steyer, a member of the university’s Board of Trustees, and his wife, Kat Taylor. The balance will come from university resources.

The architecture firm for the building is Zimmer Gunsul Frasca Architects LLP, which has designed a wide range of research and health-care facilities around the country. 

Event details:

The symposium will begin at 1 p.m. in the Clark Center auditorium. It will feature talks by Weissman; Stephen Quake, PhD, co-chair of the Department of Bioengineering; and Renee Reijo Pera, PhD, director of the Center for Human Embryonic Stem Cell Research and Education.

The groundbreaking ceremonies will begin at 3 p.m. at the construction site on Campus Drive West between Panama Street and Via Ortega. The site is next to the parking lot of the Center for Clinical Sciences Research. For directions, see the searchable campus map online.

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The Stanford University School of Medicine consistently ranks among the nation’s top 10 medical schools, integrating research, medical education, patient care and community service. For more news about the school, please visit http://mednews.stanford.edu. The medical school is part of Stanford Medicine, which includes Stanford Hospital & Clinics and Lucile Packard Children’s Hospital. For information about all three, please visit http://stanfordmedicine.org/about/news.html.