Katharina Fegebank, Senator for Science, Research and Equality, remarked: "We are creating excellent conditions for bridging the gap between basic medical research and treatment at bedsides in the new HCTI building. The Science Council has termed the concept 'excellent' thus highlighting the strength of medical research at UKE."
The German government and those of the states approved Monday (June 29, 2020) EUR 45.4 million in funds to build the Hamburg Center for Translational Immunology (HCTI) at the University Hospital Hamburg-Eppendorf (UKE). The agreement was reached during a meeting of the Joint Science Conference (Gemeinsamen Wissenschaftskonferenz GWK). Parliament in Hamburg had approved the new building, which combines the HCTI and the planned Campus Research II, last December. The costs are being shared equally by the German government and the City of Hamburg. Construction is due to begin next winter, and the first researchers are likely to move into the new building in 2023. The architects, HDR, who are based in Düsseldorf, had won the tender.
Excellent concept
Boost for medical research
The new building will house 150 laboratory units as well as work and laboratory spaces for research in the fields of inflammation, infection and immunology. Last year, scientists at UKE raised around EUR 111 million in third-party funding for their research - over EUR 12 million more than in 2018. HCTI's research into inflammation, infection and immunology seeks to understand the molecular and cellular genesis of autoimmune and chronic inflammatory diseases and to improve diagnostics.
Tenant-landlord model
The new building will be built by the subsidiary Klinik Facility-Management Eppendorf (KFE) who will then lease it to UKE. The City of Hamburg will subsidise the rent. Most other projects foreseen by the UKE Future Plan 2050 are to be built based on the tenant-lessor model as well.
Future Plan 2050
The infrastructure at UKE is continuously adapted to meet international standards and to ensure that the hospital provides top quality patient care, cutting-edge research and instruction. The Future Plan 2050 adopted by the city foresees even more development and began with the Martini-Klinik, the University Heart and Vascular Center Hamburg and the Campus Research II and Hamburg Center for Translational Immunology (HCTI).
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