Originally published by the Augusta Chronicle at https://www.augustachronicle.com/story/news/healthcare/2024/02/23/medical-college-georgia-could-get-146-million-research-space-if-state-oks-design-funding-augusta/72701191007/

Budget additions approved by the Georgia Senate on Thursday include a proposed $10.7 million to fund the design of a $146 million translational research building for the Medical College of Georgia.

The Senate voted 54-1 to pass House Bill 915, which adds money to the current fiscal year budget effective through June 30. After the House and Senate reconcile their budget differences, the measure will go to Gov. Brian Kemp's desk.

The proposed 150,000-square-foot medical facility would underscore MCG's commitment to growing the school through expanded research opportunities.

The announcement came this week from the Georgia Higher Education Healthcare Initiative, a program focused on training physicians and registered nurses committed to continuing their careers in Georgia. The initiative's principal consultant is Laurie Ott, who until the end of 2023 served as president of the Piedmont Augusta Foundation, the local health system's philanthropic arm, for nearly 13 years.

I am thankful the Senate sees the value of investing in the Research Building at MCG. Research is an important leg of the stool in medical education," said James M. Hull, who represents the Augusta area on the University System of Georgia Board of Regents. "Georgia needs physician-scientists and faculty to teach the next generation of physicians for Georgia, and this building will go a long way to helping our state attract those funded researchers who will no doubt be producing breakthroughs and discoveries for decades to come.”

Medical research is crucial to MCG's mission, as MCG Dean Dr. David Hess emphasized in his recent State of the College address on Feb. 16.

Georgia's oldest medical school, he said, "punches above its weight" when it comes to using research dollars from the government's National Institutes of Health. MCG ranks second in NIH funding nationwide among 49 medical schools with fewer than 700 faculty. Among med schools with fewer than 1,000 faculty, MCG ranks 11th out of 72.

Research in the proposed new MCG building would emphasize "translational" research, the term that describes research discoveries whose successful results can be applied quickly at patients' bedsides.

“As a physician, I have seen the benefits of when research and medical education come together. This is the logical next step for the medical college to grow its research and medical education capabilities for the benefit of the state," said MCG Foundation Chairman Dr. Charles Green. "The new research building will allow Georgia and the medical college to compete with states like South Carolina and Alabama, which have already poured hundreds of millions of dollars into new facilities and have plans for more research infrastructure.

The new facility not only would supply MCG students with more research opportunities, but it also would help Augusta prosper. Each dollar of NIH funding also introduces an estimated $2.64 into the loal economy, acording to the school.

Both Georgia's House and Senate "would need to agree in conference to fund the remaining cost of the planning for the new research building. That is expected to be under $15 million for planning, design and demolition of antiquated buildings constructed in the 1950s," Ott said in a statement. Funding for the building itself would need to be approved in next year’s budget, she said.