Chan Zuckerberg Initiative Priscilla Chan with Illinois Governor JB Pritzker and Chan Zuckerberg Chicago President Shana Kelley during the launch event. (Image Credit: Chan Zuckerberg Initiative)
Right in element14's backyard.
Inflammation-related diseases, including cancer, stroke, ischemic heart disease, kidney disease, and autoimmune and neurodegenerative conditions, are linked to 50% of human deaths. That could change with the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Chicago. Launched on October 5th, the $250 million bio lab, a collaborative effort with the University of Chicago, Northwestern University, and the University of Illinois, aims to hire fifty people from Chicago to study inflammation and human tissue for disease-fighting therapeutics. Illinois is also investing $25 million for the facility’s infrastructure costs.
While the 28,200 ft2 center is still under construction in Fulton Market at 400 N Aberdeen, research work has already started, and the lab expects to be finished by January. It will have specialized rooms, engineering equipment, and space for hosting scientific presentations.
The lab scientists are expected to learn about the driving force of inflammation in the human body. This could allow them to determine why COVID-19 causes inflammation in the brain, heart, and lungs. It also allows them to look into what’s happening in the cells whenever health conditions trigger inflammation.
They would then learn the best way to prevent or treat it. Doing something like this requires new technology that will be developed at the lab. That involves creating small sensors that integrate into human tissue to take measurements and detect the cell’s inflammation as soon as it happens. They also believe the technology could have more applications beyond inflammation.
Fifty-eight applications across the nation were sent in to host the center. Ultimately, Chicago was chosen due to the strong collaborative spirit between the three universities. The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative has one other biomedical hub, which is located in San Francisco, for cell science and infectious diseases studies. Similar to the one being built in Chicago, it’s also a collaboration between three universities: Stanford University, the University of California and San Fransisco, and the University of California Berkeley.
“I’m energized being here in Chicago and hearing directly from researchers about the transformative technology they’re building to measure human biology and bring us closer to understanding and preventing disease. The Chicago Biohub and their work studying inflammation at the cellular level has the potential to fundamentally change our understanding of human health,” said CZI Co-Founder and Co-CEO Priscilla Chan.
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