West Michigan is a magnet for collaboration in medical research, innovation and care. This is the second of two articles that take a look at what’s happening now and what’s on the horizon.
Setting a course for discovery
With the fall 2019 groundbreaking of the Doug Meijer Medical Innovation Building, Michigan State University and Health Innovation Partners – a real estate development joint venture between MB Real Estate, Walsh Construction/Walsh Investors and Rockford Construction – set the stage for a new era of medical innovation in Grand Rapids.
The 205,000-sq.-ft. seven-story facility will be part of an expanding university-led Innovation Park that began with the opening of the MSU Grand Rapids Research Center in 2017 and now anchors the city’s Medical Mile.
Opened in 2022, the Medical Innovation Building will house to a mix of industry and health care partners eager to tap into research, patient care and education underway at the innovation park, at the neighboring Michigan State University College of Human Medicine and at a network of clinical providers statewide.
A bioinformatics core built on research
Research is the foundation for the concept. Upon its opening, the MSU Grand Rapids Research Center housed nearly 175 research faculty and staff – 28 principal investigators and their teams, with future capacity for 44 teams – working on research into Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, women’s health issues, autism, pediatric cancers, inflammation, transplantation and genetics.
Norman J. Beauchamp Jr., MD, MHS, is Michigan State University's executive vice president for health services. Prior to that, he served as dean of the MSU College of Human Medicine, headquartered in Grand Rapids, and associate provost and assistant vice president for health affairs at MSU.
Beauchamp also headed up the MSU Grand Rapids Research Center when it opened in 2017. During his tenure, he pointed to a by-product of research -- big data -- as a key driver in attracting tenants to the facility. Bioinformatics -- an interdisciplinary field that develops methods and software tools for understanding biological data -- is a thrust of MSU's work here.
"Think about over 200 people on-site engaged in medical research. The data coming out of that research is incredibly valuable," said Beauchamp. "By creating a bioinformatics core connecting biomedical entrepreneurs, start-ups, OEMs and investors to clinical operations, medical education and research, MSU will support discovery and help bring effective treatments to market."
In part one, we talked with Dr. Beauchamp about the university’s vision for the Medical Innovation Building.
In part two, we take a closer look at some of the tenants that will populate the facility and drive discovery, improve patient outcomes, enhance access to care, lower costs and speed cures.
The innovators
Entities eyeing Innovation Park range from multinational OEMs to West Michigan-based manufacturers to a local start-up that has attracted a German physician with a novel approach to cancer diagnostics and treatment.
One of the innovation Building's first tenants is BAMF Health, a Grand Rapids-based second stage life science company founded by former Van Andel Institute scientist. BAMF (an acronym for Bold Advanced Medical Future) is a groundbreaking medical startup using artificial intelligence and other state-of-the-art technologies to diagnose and treat cancer. It is, in the words of the company, the world's most advanced dual-cyclotron radiopharmacy, molecular imaging and theranostics clinic.
Other companies that have expressed interest in locating their operations here include a pair of medical device manufacturers -- one working to refine and better connect consumer-focused health technologies such as wearables, sensors and apps -- and a technology provider focused on home monitoring of individuals who have health care needs but don't require hospitalization. Another potential tenant has developed a cloud-based diagnostic tool that uses augmented information to compare brain images from millions of patients to allow physicians to more quickly and accurately diagnose stroke and determine the most effective treatment protocols.
A group picture of the Grand Rapids Research Center team that currently houses nearly 175 research faculty and staff– 28 principal investigators and their teams, with future capacity for 44 teams – working on research into Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, women’s health issues, autism, pediatric cancers, inflammation, transplantation and genetics.
Photo by Michigan State University College of Human Medicine