Senator Jeff Klein announced $1 million in state funding for the Albert Einstein College of Medicine for upgrades to the Rose F. Kennedy Center to support the college’s new Brain Sciences Initiative.
The announcement was made on Thursday, November 2, during a luncheon celebrating the 50-year anniversary of the Rose F. Kennedy Center.
Built in 1970, the nine-story Rose F. Kennedy building on Jacobi Medical Center’s grounds, houses research laboratories and educational facilities related to brain sciences — understanding function and dysfunction of the brain and central nervous system.
“The Albert Einstein College of Medicine is a top-notch institution for medical education and research,” Klein stated in the release.
“I’m extremely proud to secure $1 million in funding for Einstein, which will be used to modernize the 50-year-old Rose F. Kennedy building to support the college’s new Brain Sciences Initiative,” Klein said.
Klein added that he looks forward to upcoming improvements that will enable a team of medical experts to research and address critical brain disorders such as Alzheimer’s disease, according to the release.
“Senator Klein has been a long-time and steadfast supporter of medical research and this new gift is further evidence of his commitment to improve the health of people in the Bronx and around the state,” said Dr. Allen M. Spiegel, the Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz dean at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and executive vice president and chief academic officer at Montefiore.
Spiegel added that Einstein is working to achieve major breakthroughs in the brain sciences and this gift helps strengthen Einstein’s ability to advance the field, according to the release.
Klein’s $1 million funding allocation will be used to modernize a portion of the the Rose F. Kennedy Center, including improvements to the 9th floor and the expansion of existing labs.
The AECOM modernization of the Rose F. Kennedy building will support brain sciences research.
Einstein had requested the capital funding for renovation and modernization of the facility to support research expansion and teaching.
In June 2016, Einstein completed a new strategic plan that emphasizes the importance of more closely linking basic science and clinical medicine.
Brain sciences was identified as a key priority for research expansion because it offers great scientific opportunity, addresses major unmet medical needs, builds on Einstein’s existing strengths and takes advantage of Einstein’s new position within Montefiore Medicine, according to the release.
