A Landmark Occasion and Brand New Home for Hunter Scientists
On January 8, faculty and administrators from Hunter and Weill Cornell Medical College gathered for a joint celebration in the new Belfer Research Building at 69th Street and York Avenue. The occasion was the completion of the building's 21,000-square-foot fourth floor, a new home for Hunter scientists.
On their floor, Hunter faculty and students will conduct cutting-edge research in cancer biology, infectious diseases, bioinformatics, computational genomics, bioimaging and nanotechnology. And from this base, they will collaborate with the Weill Cornell scientists housed on the other floors of the innovatively designed 16-story building.
President Jennifer J. Raab and Associate Provost for Research Mark E. Hauber led a tour of the Hunter floor, which includes an open concept lab and workstations, mass spectrometry facilities, and procedure rooms for tissue culture and microscopy. Calling the space an "evolution of a truly incredible partnership," President Raab also took note of the groundbreaking nature of this joint venture by a great public college and a great Ivy League institution.
Dr. Gary Koretzky, dean of Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, underscored the 21st-century facility's momentous promise. "The science that's going to happen in this building is going to be extraordinary," he said. Addressing the faculty, he added, "Get to know your colleagues, interact, because that's how barriers to these new discoveries will be overcome - by bringing really creative, exciting people together."