Toronto Sick Kids Hospital opened the doors to turn research and learning newly created on September 17. Doctors, researchers, and cancer survivors are optimistic the new tower will accelerate the pace of medical research to potentially improve the quality of life for many more sick children.
in recent decades, scientists and researchers who have worked for sick children were stationed at five different locations across the GTA. This workplace "scattered" was a description used by Dr. Mike Salter, one of Toronto Sick Kids research managers, who felt that medical advances have been limited due to the lack of cohesion in the Toronto Sick Kids organization.
"With the coming together like this, the idea is that this will provide a force to accelerate the pace of discovery and it will change the way we do research."
the 21-story research tower is located at Bay and Elm Street in downtown Toronto, and will house over 2,000 scientists. Some primary research projects to be undertaken in the tower will be related to the fields of genetics, genome biology, neuroscience and mental health of children.
The tower was named the Peter Gilgan Centre for Research and Learning, which takes its name from the owner and CEO of Mattamy Homes. Since 1978, Mattamy Homes has built more than 50,000 homes across North America, and Peter Gilgan donated $ 40 million to the Toronto Sick Kids Hospital in 2012.
Opening the tower is also in many ways a symbol for Children Campaign cancer awareness, which is currently throughout September and sponsored by hospitals, cancer researchers and bank cord blood programs.