A look at plans for the new Washington University Neuroscience Research Building

One of the nation’s largest neuroscience research buildings is slated to open this month in the heart of St. Louis. The $616 million Washington University Neuroscience Research Building spans 11 stories and 609,000 square feet at the eastern edge of the medical campus, near the Cortex Innovation Community.

The state-of-the-art facility will initially house approximately 100 teams comprising 875 researchers, including experts in neurology, neuroscience, neurosurgery, psychiatry, and anesthesiology. Together, they’ll explore various facets of neuroscience research, which “lays the foundation for determining the causes of diseases that affect the nervous system and for identifying potential diagnostics and treatments,” explains Linda J. Richards, Ph.D., a professor of neurobiology who chairs WashU’s Department of Neuroscience.

“Understanding the brain is key to addressing some of the most devastating afflictions that affect mankind,” Dr. David H. Perlmutter, Washington University’s executive vice chancellor for medical affairs, said in a release. “So many of us have been touched by the inexorable decline of our loved ones due to diseases and conditions such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s, brain trauma, glioblastoma, and severe mental illness, and we have learned that the development of effective therapies has proven formidable. As scientists, we believe that a deeper understanding of cognition and emotional regulation can help us address major public health problems such as obesity, substance abuse, depression and suicide.”

Cross-discipline collaboration is central to the approach at the new building. Floors will be organized around research themes such as addiction, neuro-degeneration, sleep and circadian rhythm, synapse and circuits, neurogenomics and neurogenetics. At the Washington University Pain Center, for instance, researchers study chronic pain, which can be accompanied by opioid addiction, depression, and anxiety—areas involving both anesthesiology and psychiatry.

Already, WashU researchers cite a tradition of collaboration and innovation that’s led to breakthrough care and treatments for a range of brain-related conditions. Among them, a blood test to detect Alzheimer’s; a new drug to treat a rare, inherited form of ALS; genomic testing for personalized brain tumor treatments; as well as advances in the treatment of strokes, aneurisms, and spinal cord injuries, among other inroads. 

Likewise, scientists in the WashU Division of Neurotechnology are working on big ideas, such as “non-invasive brain computer interfaces to treat stroke and chronic pain, advanced brain mapping technologies to make brain surgery and neurointerventions safer, a wearable device to treat different types of stroke, neuromodulation technologies to treat depression, and using ultrasound to probe genetic expression in the brain,” says Dr. Eric C. Leuthardt, chief of the medical division. It serves as “a hub that bridges neurosurgery and neuroclinical medicine with engineering and basic neuroscience to create impactful new technologies to treat patients.” As Leuthardt points out, the new building’s proximity to Cortex could also facilitate cross-disciplinary innovations.

At the new building, such collaboration could help inspire thoughtful conversations—and, potentially, new breakthroughs. “Some of the best discussions can come out of conversations by the water cooler,” says Dr. Jin-Moo Lee, who heads Washington University’s Department of Neurology and studies cellular and molecular aspects of stroke and neurodegenerative diseases. “I’m incredibly excited—now, we will be together under one roof.”