Columbia Breaks Ground on New Biomedical Research Building

Elected officials joined Columbia and VP&S leaders, neighborhood representatives, and medical center community members at a May 30 groundbreaking for the eight-story biomedical research building that will be located at West 167th Street and Audubon Avenue. The building, expected to open in Fall 2026, will house state-of-the-art research laboratories and community engagement spaces and will be the first university-owned research building in New York City that does not rely on fossil fuels. “We’re in a time in medicine and science that is truly incredible,” said VP&S Dean Katrina Armstrong. “We have an opportunity to advance science and technology to improve lives and care for patients in ways that I never had anticipated when I first moved into medicine.” Columbia University President Minouche Shafik said, “We are on the cusp of major new innovations that will transform medical care and human health, and for VP&S this means generating the knowledge that will take humanity forward, using the latest tools and the best knowledge in science to tackle the problems of human health and disease. And this new building will advance the VP&S mission to engage in serving our community and in an environmentally sustainable fashion.”