Hospital Obtains $2 Million From Health Institute

Boston's Children's Hospital has received a grant of $2,091,000 from the National Institute of Health to help build a new 17-story research building. Children's is the teaching pediatric hospital affiliated with the Harvard Medical School.

Later this summer the Hospital will break ground on the $9.5 million research building. In addition to the present NIH grant, the Hospital received $2,470,000 in an earlier grant from the NIH last January. The rest of the money required for construction comes from individuals, corporations, and foundations.

Dr. Leonard W. Cronkhite Jr., General Director of the Hospital, explained that the new building is designed to "break down barriers between departments and disciplines and research and to provide an opportunity for flexible collaboration between basic scientists and clinical investigators in fields of mutual interest."

Four floors of the new research building will be used for the study of mental retardation and human development. Six floors will be used for the study of infectious diseases, embryology, developmental biochemistry and a number of other areas of research.

The $9.5 million earmarked for the new building is just a small part of the $50 million which the Children's Hospital has been attempting to raise for development and expansion. This fund drive is the largest ever undertaken by any pediatric hospital.