In a new facility built for highly integrated medical research, Rex Chisholm likes the lunchroom. It makes the laboratory livable.
Chisholm is also happy with the research space in the new 12-story Robert H. Lurie Medical Research Center, which opened in April on Northwestern's Chicago campus.
"What makes it wonderful are things like the natural light and nice design features," Chisholm says of the building designed by New York-based Davis Brody Bond. "This building is designed for modern research, and that makes a difference."
Chisholm, the Adam & Richard T. Lind Professor of Medical Genetics, directs the Center for Genetic Medicine on the seventh floor of the new facility.
Chisholm's neighbors on nearby floors study cancer, infectious diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, bionanotechnology, regenerative medicine and genetics. Clinicians and basic scientists work side by side in flexible, free-flowing laboratories, an environment that promotes novel thinking, collaboration and innovation. Open and airy, the center's classroom and meeting spaces encourage an easy exchange of ideas.
Steven Rosen (FSM72, 76, GFSM79, 81), director of the Robert H. Lurie Comprehensive Cancer Center of Northwestern University, appreciates the physical and intellectual atmosphere of the new center.
"It's spectacular. It's much more interactive," says Rosen, the Genevieve E. Teuton Professor of Medicine who spent the past 20 years in the Walter E. Olson Pavilion. "It's a dream come true."