Expansion of MUSC’s Children’s Hospital to include state-of-the-art research institute

The Medical University of South Carolina’s Children’s Hospital has become one of the most respected pediatric health care centers in the nation, with top rankings from U.S. News & World Report, American Health Magazine and The Best Doctors in America. Now, the hospital is preparing for an expansion that would also make it the largest and most comprehensive pediatric research facility in the Carolinas.

Conceptualized by Dr. Charles P. Darby, former physician-in-chief of the Children’s Hospital, and in the planning stages for nearly eight years, the new, seven-story Children’s Research Institute will house 150 state-of-the-art laboratory modules, where researchers will work to discover the causes and cures for such ailments as cancer and blood disease, congenital heart disease, multiple sclerosis, leukemia, AIDS, genetic disorders, diabetes and mental retardation. Not only will the work at the CRI raise the level of care at the Children’s Hospital, it will also enable MUSC to concentrate on efforts to treat osteoporosis, obesity, Alzheimer’s disease and high cholesterol.

“There are only about 15 to 20 of our peers with the luxury of a research facility dedicated to children,” says Dr. Lindon Key, chairman of pediatrics and physician-in-chief of MUSC’s Children’s Hospital. A research center will allow the hospital to enhance the level of care by drawing top physicians, compete more effectively for funding immediately apply results of findings instead of waiting for innovations to be passed on from other institutions.

“All researchers in the Children’s Research Institute will have to be doing research in a children’s disease area,” says Key. “Most importantly, the institute will be built to enhance the research capabilities of the Children’s Hospital.” Since the hospital currently houses only 40 laboratories scattered throughout MUSC’s campus, the addition of 150 centralized labs in the new institute will expand the potential for research.

Four-and-one-half floors of the building will be dedicated to children’s research for a total of 60,000 square feet of lab space and an additional 10,000 square feet of office space—a major step up from the current 9,000 square feet of research space. “It will be organized for collaborative groups,” says Key. “As projects are developed, we’ll be recruiting scientists from other areas of the university.” The top floors will not be affiliated with the institute.

Scheduled to open in late 2004, the Children’s Research Institute is located next to the science building on Ashley Avenue and will cost $36 million to build. MUSC has secured $20 million in bonds, and the remaining $16 million will come from the private sector. To date, MUSC has raised between $11 million and $11.5 million, estimates Key. “We still have about four to five million to raise.”

All of the money raised for the institute so far has come from corporations and individuals in Charleston, says Barbara Rivers, director of development at MUSC. “Much of our success is a direct result of the community’s giving,” she says. “Our mission is to help children and their families, and 60% of the children we treat are poor. We have been very pleased with the response from the community.”

The Children’s Research Institute is a project close to Rivers’ heart. After seeing the Children’s Memorial Hospital of Chicago’s funding increase by 500% after opening its research center, she came back to Charleston to work at MUSC eight years ago specifically to raise funds for the institute. “I came home to help Dr. Darby build the Children’s Research Institute,” she says.

The Children’s Research Institute has the potential to move MUSC a rung or two higher on the national recognition ladder. To make a gift in support of the CRI, call 792-6643 or visit www.musckids.com.