Brown unveils design for signature life sciences research facility in Providence

Diane Lipscombe, a professor of neuroscience who directs Brown'sCarney Institute for Brain Science, said Danoff Laboratories will enable the University to combine research in areas such as neuroscience, pathology, genetics, biomedical engineering and computational brain science, increasing the potential for discoveries.

"Brown researchers continue to deepen scientific understanding of how the brain works and expand knowledge about diseases like ALS, autism, Alzheimer's disease, neurodevelopmental disorders, epilepsy, addiction and depression, and this new state-of-the-art research facility will accelerate our work toward new therapeutics, interventions and diagnostic tools," Lipscombe said.

Because of its proximity to other life science spaces, the new facility will help to co-locate a critical mass of leaders across the biomedical sciences, engineering and medicine to address significant problems in human health, said Dr. Mukesh Jain, dean of medicine and biological sciences at Brown. The facility will be located near Brown's medical school, its labs at 225 Dyer St., research buildings for its affiliated health systems, and the under-construction Ancora L&G building that will host the Rhode Island State Health Laboratories and other Brown labs.

"Brown has a long tradition of pioneering scientific collaborations that affect patient outcomes," Jain said. "This facility is the centerpiece of a comprehensive vision developed with great intentionality to advance discovery and to leverage partnerships with local health systems, the private sector and the state to achieve impact."

A leader in sustainable design

In addition to enabling leading-edge science, Danoff Laboratories will support environmental sustainability goals of the University, city and state, said Stephen Porder, Brown's associate provost for sustainability. It will become Brown's first laboratory building powered by 100% renewable electricity (with emergency backup for resiliency) and one of the first all-electric laboratory buildings in the region.

The facility's impact will eventually extend far beyond its walls, Porder noted, with its equipment decarbonizing other Brown buildings in downtown Providence. By establishing hydraulic connections between the new building and older, neighboring structures, its hyper-efficient electric heating and cooling system will enable substantial reductions in heating and air conditioning usage in the connected buildings, accelerating their paths to a zero-emissions future.

"From a sustainability standpoint, large laboratories are a challenge because they use a very high amount of energy and require constant air circulation," Porder said. "By confronting this at the earliest stages of this project and bringing innovative planning and design to bear on the problem, we are converting this into a massive opportunity to create a more modern and sustainable facility, without sacrificing scale or ambition."