As its first building opens, Jackson Lab has an eye on expansion

[jostar1]

Workers are still putting the finishing touches on The Jackson Laboratory’s new building on the UConn Health campus in Farmington, but some officials at the genomics lab are already thinking about their next facility.

There’s already a master plan to build a 150,000-square-foot building adjacent to Jackson’s new research center, said John Fitzpatrick, senior director of facilities for Jackson, which is based in Bar Harbor, Maine, and has another campus in Sacramento. The existing building is designed for 300 employees, but certain areas, including the auditorium and data center, were built to accommodate more, with expansion in mind.

And when would that happen?
When Jackson outgrows the current building, “and when we find the money,” said Yu-Hui Rogers, site director for The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic Medicine, the lab’s Connecticut institute. She said that’s probably five to 10 years away.

Jackson came to Connecticut with a big financial incentive from the state: $192 million to build the research center and $99 million to subsidize operations over a decade.

Charles Lee, who directs Jackson’s Connecticut institute, recently landed on a list of influential scientists deemed likely to win the Nobel Prize. The prizes are expected to be announced next week.

http://ctmirror.org/as-its-first-building-opens-jackson-lab-has-an-eye-on-expansion/

 

[jostar1]

The UConn connection

The Jackson Labs influence for UConn will go beyond the health center and have a wide impact on the Storrs campus, university officials said. Marc Lalande, chairman of the genetics and developmental biology department, said the benefits will be far-reaching.
"We're building a research engine, and that starts with the highest-quality people," he said. High-profile genetics research will make the university more attractive for students, and integration across departments means the campus as a whole will benefit.

"In the school of nursing we have a specialist in the genomics of pain," he said. "In the school of pharmacy we're looking at pharmacogenetics," or the study of how genes can affect how a person responds to drugs.

"Engineering will be impacted, business, mathematics," he said. "We want to work this into as many schools as we can."

UConn has been climbing in national rankings among public universities, and President Susan Herbst has made it a stated goal that the school be mentioned alongside the universities of Michigan, North Carolina and their ilk.

http://www.stamfordadvocate.com/bus...onomic-hopes-rest-on-Jackson-Labs-5797468.php

 

[buddy]

Great for the economy, but makes no difference in CR.

 

[Husky25]

Great for the economy, but makes no difference in CR.

AAU?

 

[buddy]

AAU?

Sorry, but not enough for AAU admission.

 

[jostar1]

Sorry, but not enough for AAU admission.

Not by itself. This is a process for UConn.

 

[Husky68]

Sorry, but not enough for AAU admission.

When is any one thing ever enough?

 

[Stinger92860]

While it's a journey, something will put us over the top. Jackson labs may not make a difference in my life, but they have a chance to positively impact the lives of my children and grandchildren.

 

[Husky25]

Sorry, but not enough for AAU admission.

So the school (and state) should just sit back and do nothing? Yeah that sounds like a good idea. Maybe if you think real hard, you can will UConn out of the AAC.

Be careful not to hurt yourself. I hear it can get real messy. Have you ever seen the movie, Scanners?

 

[buddy]

Not by itself. This is a process for UConn.

So the school (and state) should just sit back and do nothing? Yeah that sounds like a good idea. Maybe if you think real hard, you can will UConn out of the AAC.

Be careful not to hurt yourself. I hear it can get real messy. Have you ever seen the movie, Scanners?

I am not disagreeing that the Jackson lab is a good thing for UConn, CT, and the advancement of medicine.

 

[jostar1]

Great for the economy, but makes no difference in CR.

I don't think this is necessarily true. If the BIG were looking to make an exception regarding AAU, this could help us.

 

[Fishy]

Lee did not win the Noble Prize.

Boston College and Syracuse probably blocked him.

 

[John Greene]

Wrong, It was ESPN because they hate UConn. All the ESPN staff's kids go there and not a one got a Scholly.
.
.

 

[ScottBonz]

http://www.hartfordbusiness.com/article/20141022/NEWS01/141029980/1002

5 million dollar gift already

 

[pj]

For AAU status you have to attract top faculty. Faculty want to be with top quality peers because research is generally a collaborative process and you benefit from knowledge exchange with smart peers as well as outright cooperation/collaboration. Jackson Labs is an extra attraction in faculty recruitment. To achieve AAU status, it has to be coupled with faculty turnover so that weak old faculty can be replaced by strong new faculty, or by growht of the university as a whole so that new hires can be brought in. Turnover takes a long time, but growth can improve status quickly. UConn is one of the few growing universities in the country. Growth + quality seeds to aid in recruiting will help.

I'm not saying AAU is imminent, you still may need 20 years of faculty turnover and the planned faculty growth may not be achievable. But this helps.

 

[HuskyHawk]

I am not disagreeing that the Jackson lab is a good thing for UConn, CT, and the advancement of medicine.

Do you agree that before you can walk a mile, you first need to walk 100 yards? What is with the negativity?

 

[Duncan Idaho]

For AAU status you have to attract top faculty. Faculty want to be with top quality peers because research is generally a collaborative process and you benefit from knowledge exchange with smart peers as well as outright cooperation/collaboration. Jackson Labs is an extra attraction in faculty recruitment. To achieve AAU status, it has to be coupled with faculty turnover so that weak old faculty can be replaced by strong new faculty, or by growht of the university as a whole so that new hires can be brought in. Turnover takes a long time, but growth can improve status quickly. UConn is one of the few growing universities in the country. Growth + quality seeds to aid in recruiting will help.

I'm not saying AAU is imminent, you still may need 20 years of faculty turnover and the planned faculty growth may not be achievable. But this helps.

Has the Faculty 500 initiative/process begun?

 

[FfldCntyFan]

For AAU status you have to attract top faculty. Faculty want to be with top quality peers because research is generally a collaborative process and you benefit from knowledge exchange with smart peers as well as outright cooperation/collaboration. Jackson Labs is an extra attraction in faculty recruitment. To achieve AAU status, it has to be coupled with faculty turnover so that weak old faculty can be replaced by strong new faculty, or by growht of the university as a whole so that new hires can be brought in. Turnover takes a long time, but growth can improve status quickly. UConn is one of the few growing universities in the country. Growth + quality seeds to aid in recruiting will help.

I'm not saying AAU is imminent, you still may need 20 years of faculty turnover and the planned faculty growth may not be achievable. But this helps.

This!!!!!!!!!

The statement that I bolded is by far the most important part of this equation. Look at what happened in the 1970's (and continues to have an impact through today) at Stanford with the Palo alto Research Center (PARC). If at Jackson Labs we appear to be making signinificant progress on some aspect of genome research, that will lead to government grants and top faculty wanting to be a part of it, which will lead to further grants and attract additional faculty. With the right project showing promise, the snowball effect could be tremendous.

 

[buddy]

Do you agree that before you can walk a mile, you first need to walk 100 yards? What is with the negativity?

I can't wait 20 years. I will be dead by then.

 

[Drew]

UConn getting a little national love for the state of CT's dedication to UConn financially. Very good read about the newest addition to the Med Campus:

http://www.courant.com/business/hc-ctm-precision-medicine-jackson-lab-20150710-story.html