Blueprints to Footprints
Date Posted: February 17, 2022
Posted In: Ideas, Projects,
From CannonDesign’s FLOURISH: One of the most innovative academic medical research buildings in the world opened in the heart of Buffalo in 2012… what happened next?
The Kaleida Health Gates Vascular Institute (GVI) and the University at Buffalo Clinical Translational Research Center (CTRC) was a bold concept that hoped to create a first-of-its kind translational healthcare environment where some of the greatest minds in vascular health could collaborate and innovate together in the heart of Buffalo’s medical campus. Ten years later, we asked… is the building achieving those original goals?
The blueprint strategy of the GVI/CTRC was to physically “stack” typically disparate departments—each with their own unique needs—to foster proximity between research and clinical practices. On the first four floors, the GVI operates as an internationally renowned clinical care facility and emergency department where physicians perform complicated procedures on patients needing stroke, cardiac and vascular care. On the top four floors, the CTRC houses scientists performing cutting-edge research aimed at improving health outcomes by preventing and treating a wide range of health conditions. Sandwiched between the two is the Jacobs Institute, an innovation accelerator focused on health and health technology, as well as a two-level collaborative core that unites all the unique disciplines together to move new discoveries from the bench to the bedside.
To understand the building’s impact over the past ten years, we recently interviewed doctors and researchers who work in the building to see if its original vision is alive and thriving.
The Collaborative Vision that Started it All
Dr. Adnan Siddiqui, MD, PhD, FAHA, sat down to speak with us virtually after literally walking straight out of the OR, still donning his surgical cap and scrubs. Dr. Siddiqui is Vice Chairman and Professor of Neurosurgery at the State University of New York at Buffalo. He joined University at Buffalo (UB) Neurosurgery in 2007 and was part of some of the early conversations about the GVI/CTRC.
Both Kaleida Health and UB recognized increasing multidisciplinary collaboration and accelerating the bench-to-bedside cycle for medical breakthroughs would require a fundamental change in culture. There were many influential thought leaders on both the clinical and research side who worked together to bring the vision to life.
Dr. Siddiqui recalled some of the early meetings where CannonDesign was brought on to make this vision a reality. “I distinctly remember the CannonDesign team acted more like facilitators to the greater discussion happening,” he said. “Those early meetings were also where I met my colleagues in cardiology for the first time. Prior to those discussions, I would not have recognized them if I walked past them in the hallway. That collaborative spirit that began in your sessions lives on today in the building.”
Today, Dr. Siddiqui interacts with his cardiology colleagues daily and collaborates with them on challenging vascular cases and vice versa with his neuro patients. “I’ll have someone having a heart attack on my table and I’ll call the cardiologists and they come in to treat it,” he said. “The same thing will happen during cardiovascular surgery. If their patient is having a stroke, I will come in and assist. We just take care of patients as complete people rather than having two separate admissions for neuro and cardio.”
He also finds himself up on the top floors interacting with the researchers quite often. That day when we spoke with him, he was on his way up to check on a new animal research study. “For me, its back and forth, up and down the building all day long. I’m constantly collaborating with the researchers, writing new grants, working on new ideas for care and even inviting the graduate students to watch me operate.”