Shriners Children s to open $153M medical research facility in Georgia
Atlanta (AP) On Wednesday, the nonprofit organization that runs Shriners Children’s hospitals throughout North America revealed plans to build a $153 million medical research facility in Atlanta.
Cell and gene therapies, other biotechnology therapies, robotics, artificial intelligence, medical devices, and data analysis are among the areas of study that Shriners Children’s Research Institute plans to pursue.
In addition to clinics, Shriners Children’s has 17 hospitals in the US and one each in Mexico and Canada. The Masonic organization Shriners International is the owner of the system. Children with burns, urological illnesses, orthopedic issues, and craniofacial defects like cleft lips and palates are among its specialties. The organization claims to treat patients regardless of their financial situation, even though it takes insurance payments.
Georgia Tech stated that it will be the biggest tenant at Science Square, and the institute anticipates having 470 employees. Georgia Tech and the Trammell Crow Company are working on that mixed-use project.
Georgia Tech constructed labs that opened last year, and the company owns the site next to its campus near downtown Atlanta. The goal of the project is to replicate Georgia Tech’s achievements in collaborating with tech firms in Atlanta’s Midtown area. In recent years, Atlanta’s IT industry has been a key engine of growth, and policymakers are also attempting to support growth from biomedical research.
According to a statement from Dr. Marc Lalande, vice president of research programs at Shriners Children, the tight collaboration with the exceptional biomedical engineers and scientists from Georgia Tech and Emory University will speed up discovery and lead the development of innovative treatments and cures.
Since NGOs are often excluded from income and property taxes, it is unclear exactly how the state and local governments’ incentives for Shriners Children’s will operate. Since nonprofits in Georgia are required to pay sales taxes, the state may be able to exempt equipment purchases from these taxes. According to Georgia Department of Economic Development spokesman Jessica Atwell, the state will not make the records public until they are completed.
