(l-r) Cochair of the advisory council for the Harvard program in Therapeutic Science, Joshua Boger; president and CEO of MLSC, Susan Windham-Bannister; dean of Harvard Medical School, Jeffrey Flier; executive director of the Harvard Program in therapeutic science, Laura Maliszewski; and director of the laboratory of systems pharmacology, Peter Sorger.
Boston – Harvard Medical School has opened its new Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, an innovative new endeavor aimed at reinventing the fundamental science underlying drug development, located on Longwood Avenue in Boston. Harvard Medical School dean, Jeff Flier, along with director of the laboratory of systems pharmacology, Peter Sorger, president and CEO of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, Susan Windham-Bannister, Ph.D., and the chair of the facility’s Oversight Committee, Joshua Boger were among those attending the ribbon-cutting ceremony. Construction of the new research facility was funded through a $5 million grant from the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center (MLSC).
The architect for the project was Jon Whitney at Janovsky/Hurley. The project manager was Bruce Macintyre with the HMS Engineering and Construction office.
“Massachusetts leads the world in life sciences thanks to our growth strategy of investing in education, innovation, and infrastructure,” said Governor Deval Patrick. “We congratulate Harvard Medical School on the grand opening of the Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology and look forward to seeing the new treatments and therapies that will come out of this groundbreaking new facility.”
“With this new Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School is extremely well positioned to convene key entities, imagine new solutions, and marshal the talent and resources necessary to stimulate creation of new and more effective therapeutics, which is one of biomedicine’s greatest challenges,” said Flier.
The Harvard Medical School (HMS) Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology (LSP) is a multidisciplinary effort within the Harvard Program in Therapeutic Science (HiTS) to reinvent the fundamental science underlying the development of new medicines and their use in individual patients.
“The funding provided by the MLSC is truly catalytic. Over the last year we have used the promise of a new interdisciplinary approach housed in a new lab to secure investments from the school, foundations, and now $30 million in federal grant funding to advance therapeutic discovery and ultimately improve patient care. Without the support from the people of Massachusetts, the LSP would still be an idea rather than the dynamic research environment we celebrate today,” said Peter Sorger, Harvard Medical School Professor of Systems Pharmacology, Head of the Program in Therapeutic Science.
The LSP brings together investigators in mathematical and experimental disciplines from multiple academic institutions (Harvard, MIT, Tufts) and research hospitals (Dana Farber, MGH, BWH) and eventually visiting scientists from the FDA and local drug companies to integrate computational and systems approaches into all phases of drug discovery and development.
“This project is a great example of the goals of our capital program, as this innovative new facility will serve as a unique resource that will strengthen Massachusetts’ position as the global leader in life sciences innovation,” said Susan Windham-Bannister, Ph.D., president and chief executive officer of the Massachusetts Life Sciences Center, the agency charged with implementing Governor Patrick’s 10-year, $1 billion Life Sciences Initiative. “The mission of the LSP is to be on the cutting edge of drug discovery and development and, with support from Harvard Medical School’s faculty and staff, together with other members of the state’s life sciences community I’m sure they will accomplish that goal. In that same spirit, we also are pleased to see that the center’s investment is helping to leverage substantial additional funding from other sources.”
