230,000 s/f research center officially opens.

The largest and most dramatic addition to midtown Manhattan's eastern skyline in half a century was officially unveiled this week when NYU School of Medicine's Joan and Joel Smilow Research Center was dedicated.

The 13-story, state-of-the-art research facility is the first major addition to the campus of NYU Medical Center in more than a decade.

Located at the southeast corner of the campus, near 30th Street and the FDR Drive, the Smilow Research Center will house some 40 multidisciplinary research teams, a mix of current investigators and new recruits, dedicated to such fields as cancer, cardiovascular biology, neuroscience, dermatology, genetics, and infectious diseases.

With more than 230,000 s/f of laboratory space, the Smilow Research Center is designed to enhance the interdisciplinary pursuit of translational medicine, which seeks to shorten the journey from laboratory bench to the patient's bedside by fostering collaboration and synergy among researchers that, in turn, accelerate the development of new treatments.

At the dedication ceremony speakers included the Assembly speaker Sheldon Silver and Joel E. Smilow, the NYU trustee former president and CEO of Playtex, is chairman of Dinex Group, LLC, a company he formed with chef Daniel Boulud, which owns several celebrated New York restaurants.

John Sexton, president of New York University, said, "With its ingenious design, state-of-the-art equipment, and strategic location in the heart of New York City, the Smilow Research Center will attract some of the best and brightest from many fields."

Built on landfill that was part of the East River only a century ago, the Smilow Research Center posed considerable engineering challenges. Before the foundation could be laid, more than 60 million gallons of water had to be pumped out of the site. To keep the water out, engineers devised a system of 394 secant piles, or overlapping concrete cylinders--the first of its kind ever used in New York City. The secants, each measuring 30 inches in diameter, were drilled down to a depth of 55 feet around the perimeter of the site, forming a secure bathtub. They are coated with a crystalline waterproofing that expands to plug any holes that may form.