With a $423 million expansion project that began this past fall, Stony Brook Medicine is embarking on a new chapter. A chapter marked by aggressive growth, record-setting donations, unprecedented community support, and facilities that will put Stony Brook on the map in a new way.
The cornerstone of the project is the Medical and Research Translation (MART), a 245,000-square-foot, 8-story building that will be the new home of advanced biomedical imaging, biomedical informatics, and the Stony Brook University Cancer Center. Located adjacent to Stony Brook University Hospital, the MART broke ground on November 13, and will primarily be devoted to cancer research and care.
Scheduled to be completed in 2016, The MART will also contain a PET/CT scanner, 12 new classrooms and a 300-seat auditorium to host conferences, lectures and other events. The outpatient Cancer Center will include multidisciplinary exam space for medical and surgical oncology, an infusion center with private and open bays, pediatric hematology and oncology including pediatric infusion, as well as patient amenities and support.
“By housing research, clinical and education under one roof, we are creating a progressive model for 21st century cancer care and developing a rapid process of discovery, clinical application and public knowledge,” said Yusuf A. Hannun, MD, Director of the Stony Brook University Cancer Center. “The new building will invite innovation and collaboration.”
Currently, Stony Brook Medicine cares for approximately 4,000 patients with cancer, encompassing about 80,000 patient encounters. The MART will double Stony Brook Medicine’s capacity to care for patients with cancer — making the outstanding and highly specialized physicians, nurses and staff more accessible to residents in the region. In addition, it may give the nearly 40 percent of Suffolk County residents who seek cancer care at hospitals outside the county a reason to remain close to home.
“Imagine the power of having a world-renowned cancer researcher bumping into a clinical thought leader in medical oncology, sharing the results of her latest research, and asking how that new data can help treat his patients. Or having that medical oncologist ask the cancer research scientist to help him figure out why his patient is not responding to treatment,” added Kenneth Kaushansky, MD, Senior Vice President for Health Sciences, and Dean of the Stony Brook School of Medicine.
“The MART is designed to foster those conversations, and in doing so, catalyze major advances in understanding the origins of cancer and how to better treat our patients.”
The MART is made possible by New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and the State University of New York under the leadership of Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher, through a $35 million NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant, and $50 million in support through an historic $150 million gift from Jim and Marilyn Simons.