Press Releases
Senator Rockefeller Tours BRNI Site
April 23, 2007
MORGANTOWN, W.Va – Senator Jay Rockefeller led a tour through the construction site of The Blanchette Rockefeller Neurosciences Institute this morning.
BRNI, founded by U.S. Senator Jay Rockefeller, is an independent research center dedicated to improving understanding of Alzheimer’s disease and other conditions that affect memory. Construction on the $30 million research building for the Institute on the campus of West Virginia University’s Health Sciences campus began in May, 2006.
“This is my first time in the building, and I’m very excited to see how much progress has been made,” Sen. Rockefeller said. “Having this research space will leave us free to pursue a cure for Alzheimer’s and to develop ways to predict Alzheimer’s. It also opens whole lines of other research into diseases and injuries that affect the brain and memory.”
“I can’t say enough how grateful I am to Senator Byrd for his ongoing support, to David Hardesty and Dr. D’Alessandri for their commitment through WVU – and to the West Virginia Legislature and Governor Manchin for their incredible support this year.”
Before the tour, Rockefeller pointed out the roof on the architect’s model. “My mother and my father were deeply involved in Japan, and we talked about a Japanese roof style – it’s not flat, it has a little curve to it. It’s a little cerebral, exotic, and extraordinary. Every time I look at that roof, I’ll think of my mother.”
Expected to open in Spring, 2008, the approximately 80,000 square feet three-level building will house 100 scientists by 2012.
“The building is about 50% complete – the steel, the cement, the roof are done; we’re starting in on electrical and other systems and the exterior,” said Mark Cochran, Ph.D., the Institute’s director. “We are predicting occupancy by this time next year.”
A number of BRNI scientists are already at work at WVU.
“A lot of our research already has had implications for understanding stroke, understanding head trauma,” said Daniel Alkon, M.D., BRNI Scientific Director.
“Science is an international activity, and we have to compete internationally for the best researchers, “ Dr. Cochran added. “This facility will attract the very best scientists from around the world.”