Ground-breaking ceremony for new 63 million euro CITABLE research building
Unique collaboration for patients
Like a piece in a jigsaw puzzle, the new research building for the Deutsches Zentrum Immuntherapie (DZI), the Center for Immunotherapy, Biophysics & Digital Medicine (CITABLE), fits neatly between the Translational Research Center (TRC I) on the banks of the Schwabach and the Center for Internal Medicine of Universitätsklinikum Erlangen on Ulmenweg in Erlangen. What only existed on drawings up to now is soon set to become reality after the ground-breaking ceremony that took place on July 13, 2023. “We expect to begin building work this year and are already looking forward to moving into the building at the end of 2025,” said Prof. Dr. Markus F. Neurath, spokesperson of Deutsches Zentrum Immuntherapie (DZI). “Researchers from the fields of immunomedicine, biophysics and digital medicine will work together across all disciplines here. This close collaboration between these three fields is unique in Germany.” The goal of all involved is to develop innovative diagnostic and therapeutic methods for inflammatory diseases and cancer. “And this will all take place in close proximity to the Center for Internal Medicine where we treat our patients on a daily basis,” emphasized Prof. Neurath. “This translation, the transfer of research findings from the laboratory to a clinical setting is decisive for us. Our patients, who are often seriously ill, are the first to benefit from the latest research findings.”
Within CITABLE (TRC II), a total of 2,014 square meters of floor space will be distributed between six floors, with another 1,072 square meters for technical service areas and 1,224 square meters for public spaces. In addition to high-tech laboratories, the building includes zones for meetings and breaks aimed at promoting communication between the scientific disciplines. The building will also contain offices and seminar rooms. CITABLE is an essential part of FAU Campus Erlangen (North), which has been in planning as a unit since the design competition for the Translational Research Center in 2009. The building costs of around 63.4 million euros for CITABLE are being funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and the Free State of Bavaria. The State Construction Office Erlangen-Nuremberg is responsible for construction of the new building for DZI.
Prestige project for university medicine in Erlangen
In his welcome address, Markus Blume, Bavarian State Minister of Science and the Arts, emphasized the significance of CITABLE: “The next research center in Erlangen is a prestige project for university medicine in Erlangen and shows that the city is an important location worldwide for medical research. The distinct focus on translational, or application-oriented research, makes it clear that medical progress at the center starts with patients. Top-level research and top-level patient care belong together. This is our obligation to patients. This center will therefore enable us to secure the competitiveness of our hospitals on an international level. Innovation is also vital in medicine.”
Joachim Herrmann, Bavarian Minister of the Interior for Sport and Integration, also accepted the invitation to the ceremony and was especially pleased for his home town: “This is a great day for Erlangen as a cutting-edge location for medicine. CITABLE will be a unique interdisciplinary research building that will facilitate research in close proximity to patients at the interfaces between immunotherapy, biophysics and digital medicine for the first time. Researchers from many different fields will work here on groundbreaking new diagnostic and treatment methods. Their work could help patients suffering from inflammatory diseases and cancer all over the world.”
Interdisciplinary research for the benefit of patients
The fact that a university hospital never stays still, that continuous further development in research is important and that this requires new buildings and premises in the city is well known at Erlangen town hall. “Erlangen has undergone considerable development as a location for research during the last few years. CITABLE and its location within walking distance of the Center for Internal Medicine at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen means that this cutting-edge research infrastructure will now be even closer to patients,” said Jörg Volleth, second mayor of Erlangen. “I am extremely pleased that this new building will bring together a unique combination of fields of research for the benefit of patients with inflammatory diseases and cancer.”
Thanks to the close proximity of Universitätsklinikum Erlangen and FAU and the long-standing active collaboration between the two, CITABLE will become part of an established tradition. “FAU’s strength lies in its diversity, particularly when it comes to research. CITABLE is a perfect example of this. Researchers from many different fields will collaborate on projects on inflammatory diseases and cancer and will work closely with doctors at Universitätsklinikum Erlangen,” explained FAU President Prof. Dr. Joachim Hornegger. “New diagnostic methods and highly-innovative therapies will thus be integrated more quickly into clinical practice. This is precisely what makes Erlangen-Nuremberg so special as a location for cutting-edge research.”
Planning at record speed
The focus of 2023, however, will be on preliminary building works. “We are pleased to be able to contribute significantly to the rapid start of construction of the new research building, which will cost more than 60 million euros, by completing the planning at a record speed,” said Jan Knippel, director for university construction projects for Erlangen at the State Construction Office Erlangen-Nuremberg. “In only 400 working days, we completed the complex planning phase and were able to obtain permission for the budget from the Bavarian parliament.”
Further information:
Press office of Universitätsklinikum Erlangen
Phone: +49 9131 85 36102