ATLANTA — The nonprofit that operates Shriners Children’s hospitals across North America will locate a $153 million medical research facility in Atlanta, the group announced Wednesday.
Shriners Children’s Research Institute intends to conduct research into cell and gene therapies, other biotechnology therapies, robotics, artificial intelligence, medical devices and the study of data.
Shriners Children’s operates 17 hospitals in the United States and one each in Mexico and Canada, plus clinics. The system is owned by Shriners International, a Masonic order. It specializes in treating children with orthopedic problems, burns, urology disorders and craniofacial conditions including cleft lips and palates. While the organization accepts insurance payments, it says that it treats patients regardless of their ability to pay.
“This is a decision of the health care system to expand the role we play in pediatric research,” said Mel Bower, a spokesperson for Shriners Children’s. He said the institute will be financed using the Shriners Children’s resources and should be operating within a year to 18 months.
The institute projects it will have 470 employees, many of them new hires, and Georgia Tech said it will be the largest tenant at Science Square. That is a mixed-use development that Georgia Tech is developing along with the Trammell Crow Co.
Georgia Tech owns the land adjoining its campus near downtown Atlanta, while the company built labs that opened last year. The development aims to emulate Georgia Tech’s success in joint developments with technology companies in Atlanta’s Midtown neighborhood. That tech sector has been a major driver of growth in Atlanta in recent years, and officials are now trying to bolster growth from biomedical research.
Leanne West, the chief engineer of pediatric technology at Georgia Tech, said the university has already conducted 25 projects with Shriners Children’s. She said both Georgia Tech and Emory University will lend research expertise to the institute, and she hopes institute employees can work alongside Georgia Tech researchers.
“The goal is to really help embed some of their researchers here with Georgia Tech, to walk across campus, to work in the same labs, to have that physical presence together,” West said. “I think we can accomplish great things by doing that.”
The state and local governments are providing incentives to Shriners Children’s, although it is not exactly clear how that would work because nonprofits are generally exempt from income and property taxes. In Georgia, nonprofit organizations do have to pay sales taxes, which means the state could waive such taxes on equipment purchases. Jessica Atwell, a spokesperson for the Georgia Department of Economic Development, said the state won’t release documents until they are finalized.
