Phoenix Children’s Hospital and the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix announced May 25 they have launched the Phoenix Children’s Research Institute at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix to bolster pediatric cures and treatments.
The new institute will be lead by Dr. Vlad Kalinichenko, who was recruited to Phoenix earlier this year. He will also serve as a professor of child health with tenure, according to a press release. Dr. Kalinichenko is internationally known for his research in lung development and regeneration. To date, Dr. Kalinichenko has been the principal investigator or co-investigator on a half dozen R01 NIH-funded research grants totaling more than $13.5 million. Dr. Kalinichenko will work alongside Dr. Stewart Goldman, senior vice president of research for Phoenix Children’s and chair of the department of child health at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix.
“We’re committed to finding as many new cures and improved treatments as possible for children with devastating childhood illnesses,” said Dr. Goldman. “In the near term, we’re focusing on workforce expansion and training the next generation of researchers who will have a profound impact on pediatric patients in Arizona and beyond.”
Dr. Kalinichenko is also bringing a team of researchers to the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix to help advance the research coming out of the Phoenix Children’s Research Institute.
“We created The Phoenix Children’s Research Institute at the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix to become a premier center for scientific discovery and the development of new therapeutics for previously untreatable diseases in children. After an extensive national search, we were fortunate to recruit Dr. Kalinichenko, a world-class physician-scientist, to amplify his scientific discoveries as he builds a pre-eminent research institute,” said Guy Reed, MD, MS, dean of the University of Arizona College of Medicine – Phoenix, in a statement. “We are grateful for the close partnership we have with Phoenix Children’s that has enabled us to launch this institute.”
The University of Arizona has significantly increased its investment in Phoenix-based research initiatives. In addition to the Phoenix Children’s Research Institute, the University of Arizona Health Sciences is also in construction to build out the Center for Advanced Molecular and Immunological Therapies (CAMI) on the second floor of the Biomedical Sciences Partnership Building, and plans to break ground on a 290,000 square foot home for CAMI within the next year. That building will be located at the corner of 7th Street and Fillmore and will be home to dozens principal investigator teams, biomedical engineering programs and more.