Located one block from Weill Cornell Medicine's main campus on Manhattan's Upper East Side, the site will add approximately 200,000 square feet of dedicated research space—an average of 40,000 square feet per floor—making it the institution's largest expansion since the Belfer Research Building opened in 2014, according to the institution. "Laboratories in the new medical research center, which will open in 2026, will focus on a breadth of foundational, clinical and translational research, utilizing advanced data science and computational techniques to revolutionize scientists' understanding of disease," it said.

That definition spans the concepts of medical office on one hand and life sciences on the other. Patient treatment is clinical, but there are important areas of research that are also clinical and not necessarily the specific drug or device research focus associated with life sciences.

"This state-of-the-art new medical research center, only steps from where our doctors see patients, will enable investigators to share ideas and technologies; drive discovery across disciplines; attract and retain the brightest scientific minds; sustain growth in our research funding; and further a sense of community," said Dr. Robert A. Harrington, the Stephen and Suzanne Weiss Dean of Weill Cornell Medicine and provost for medical affairs of Cornell University, in prepared remarks. "By continuing to invest in science, we can change medicine, moving pioneering research more rapidly from lab concept to patient therapies."

The expansion includes both dry and wet lab space. Plans eventually expect to house more than 700 Weill Cornell faculty and staff and "the space will fuel high-impact, data-driven clinical research initiatives across diverse patient populations." The first phase of expansion is expected in early 2024.