Horizons Fall 2016

25 NSU HORIZONS Nancy Klimas, M.D., director of the Nova Southeastern University Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine, walked through the halls of the fourth floor at the new Center for Collaborative Research (CCR) only a few days after the 215,000-square-foot space was completed. Some of the rooms where clinics would eventually be buzzing with staff and patients didn’t even have chairs yet. Wet labs with gleaming metal tables were in the last phases of con- struction. Yet, Klimas had a clear vision of how things would look with collaboration at the core. “Traditionally, people work very separately from one another,” Klimas explained. In fact, Klimas recalled working in a number of places where people in the next hallway were doing very similar science, yet her group never interacted with them even though they were nearby. Inside the CCR, Klimas’ clinic was planned strategi- cally. “When you’re sharing the space, the equipment, everything within the team, then you are really fostering a collaborative environment.” She explained that with the scientists being in the same space as the clinic, it also creates a sense of urgency. “It really does motivate them to see sick people in the waiting room who want you to give them real answers.” Additionally, Gordon Broderick, Ph.D., leads computational researchers at the NSU Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine in the emerging field of computational biology, and Mary Ann Fletcher, Ph.D., oversees the research lab and conducts proteomic and genomic research. The NSU Institute for Neuro-Immune Medicine joins other institutes that are housed in the CCR—including the NSU Cell Therapy Institute; NSU AutoNation Insti- tute for Breast and Solid Tumor Cancer Research; NSU Rumbaugh-Goodwin Institute for Cancer Research; and NSU Emil Buehler Research Center for Science, Technol- ogy, Engineering, and Mathematics. The United States Geological Survey occupies the first floor of the CCR, continuing its partnership with NSU on research involv- ing Everglades restoration. The CCR also provides wet and dry labs for many of NSU’s innovative researchers. It includes a General Clinical Research Center—an outpatient facility that provides a centralized clinical research infrastructure to benefit investigators in multiple disciplines, as well. A technology incubator offers partnerships for innovative and start-up companies. George L. Hanbury II, Ph.D., president and chief exec- utive officer of NSU, said that he counted the days from the groundbreaking on February 13, 2014, up to the ribbon cutting that took place on September 21, 2016. “NSU joins an elite group of institutions with a revolutionary research center. I look forward to the fantastic minds and research activities that will become part of the CCR and to seeing this concept come into fruition—collaboration in various disciplines,’’ he said. “It has been a long road; but, now the important task is to fill it with the individuals who possess the minds and the research to see their work fulfilled.” INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE Also setting the CCR apart is the international bio- medical research alliance focused on cell-based medical research that has been established at the university. The BY MICHELLE F. SOLOMON Continued on page 28 UNDER ONE ROOF