Dozens of scientists wearing white lab coats gathered with elected officials and medical professionals in front of the new $85 million Burnham Institute for Medical Research on May 15 to celebrate the completion of the first facility in Lake Nona's Medical City. Medical City partners, including representatives from the University of Central Florida (UCF) College of Medicine, Nemours Children's Hospital, VA Medical Center, M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando and Tavistock Group, were among the first to tour Burnham at Lake Nona, the largest facility in Florida tracking toward a gold level LEED certification.

 

The unveiling of the 178,000-square-foot east coast satellite laboratory for the San Diego, Calif.-based biomedical company, Burnham Institute for Medical Research, represents a milestone for the new 600-acre life sciences cluster in Lake Nona, which has been described as "a rapid-growth sapling on steroids," compared to San Diego's 40-year-old "mature oak tree" cluster. John Reed, MD, PhD, arguably the most highly cited scientist of the decade, leads Burnham, a nonprofit institute established in 1976 and ranked among the top four institutions nationally for NIH grant funding.

 

By its opening, Daniel Kelly, MD, scientific director of Burnham at Lake Nona, had assembled a dozen lead scientists and more than 75 total employees to focus on diabetes, obesity and cardiovascular research. To have some 30 lead scientists and their teams in place by 2016, Kelly is ramping up recruitment efforts worldwide. With the recent hiring of Stephen Gardell as director of translational research, Burnham at Lake Nona also plans to focus on research efforts that accelerate drug discoveries to trial and application.

 

Encompassing 7,000 acres, Lake Nona is Orlando's fastest-growing, most innovative master-planned community. When completed, the Medical City component will represent a vibrant new Central Florida research park employing more than 30,000 people with an $8 billion economic impact.

 

This fall, UCF will welcome its inaugural class of 40 medical school students at its new Health Sciences Campus at Lake Nona, which consists of more than 2 million square feet of instructional and research space on 50 acres. Slated to open later this year, the nearly 200,000-square-foot Burnett Biomedical Sciences building will play an integral role in the College of Medicine. The five-story facility will house biomedical researchers who focus on advancing the understanding of human disease and developing innovative ways to treat some of the world's most prevalent and serious health problems, including cancer, cardiovascular, infectious and neurodegenerative diseases. M.D. Anderson Cancer Center Orlando's Cancer Research Institute (CRI) will occupy 30,000 square feet of space on the fifth floor, paying the university $2.5 million to occupy space for up to five years while M. D. Anderson–Orlando's own independent research facility is being built in the park.

Orlando Regional Healthcare, which hosts more than 150 fourth-year medical students from across the nation, plus 36 students from the Florida State University College of Medicine, has partnered with UCF to allow medical students to participate in clinical training at Orlando Regional hospitals.
Further strengthening the university presence at Lake Nona, the University of Florida is also planning to locate a research facility to be shared with the Burnham Institute.

 

Construction is also underway at Lake Nona for the Orlando VA Medical Center, a $656 million high-tech medical complex on 67 acres. Its

 

1.3 million square feet of space will include a 134-bed hospital, a 118-bed community living center, a 60-bed domiciliary, an outpatient clinic and a veterans' benefits mini service center. The facility will also debut the latest in digital technology and modern amenities, including larger private rooms, family visiting areas, and personal wireless devices and Internet connections. The new venue, scheduled to open in 2012, will increase accessibility to healthcare for Central Florida's nearly 400,000 veterans.

 

A new Nemours Children's Hospital is being built on 60 acres in Lake Nona. The pediatric healthcare campus will feature a new $3 million children's clinic, an ambulatory diagnostic center, extensive research and education facilities, and also a new 95-bed, 550,000-square-foot children's hospital valued at $400 million, along with a planned Ronald McDonald House. Nemours' hospital is expected to open in 2012.