BLACKSBURG, Va. – A new million dollar science lab is coming to our region bringing with it research and innovation.
A $1.1 million grant from “GO Virginia Coalition will be used to build a new laboratory at Virginia Tech’s Corporate Research Center.
The new facility will be used for life science and biotech research.
“My dream for this place is that we become a destination site for the biomedical health science enterprise, not only on the academic side but a place where innovations become reality,” said Research Institute’s executive director, Dr. Michael Friedlander,
Along with the new facility, is a collaboration with Johnson & Johnston. The partnership aims to get ideas from the lab out to the public.
“The research is great, but if that cancer therapy doesn’t make it to the bedside, it’s no good,” said VTCRC’s president and CEO, Brett Malone. “So we can have great discoveries for Johnson & Johnson with JLABS. What they want to do is make sure that it gets out of the lab and into the clinic and into the hospital,” he said.
The facility is set to bring in 125 jobs over the next five years to the Blacksburg and Roanoke region.
“It also gives the ability for companies to come from the outside and embed in the building and work with FBRI [Fralin Biotech Research Institute] and Carilion and other assets in the area. That’s why it’s really positive. This has been a big piece missing for quite some time,” said director of Roanoke’s economic development, Marc Nelson.
The new facility is set to open in 2022.