Dr. Peter Pisters, UHN President and CEO, said providing hospital researchers with the opportunities in MaRS "to develop new partnerships and technologies of the future will help patients and establish Toronto as a global innovator." (Photo: UHN)
The West Tower of MaRS Discovery District is open for business, welcoming new research groups and innovative ventures. It is already more than 70 per cent leased.
Leaders in brain imaging, digital health companies, the UHN Transplant Innovation Centre, the Ted Rogers Centre for Heart Research, University of Toronto, UHN, Ryerson and Facebook were among those unveiled as tenants at an announcement in the MaRS atrium Thursday.
The West Tower of the MaRS Centre will double the size of the facility to over 1.5 million sq. ft., making it one of the largest urban innovation hubs in the world. Currently, more than 2,300 researchers, innovators, entrepreneurs and professionals work at MaRS
"Toronto has some of the most talented, creative and collaborative hospital researchers, all of whom thrive in a dynamic, entrepreneurial hub," said Dr. Peter Pisters, President and CEO, UHN. "Providing them with the opportunities in MaRS to develop new partnerships and technologies of the future will help patients and establish Toronto as a global innovator."
MaRS Discovery District, a not-for-profit corporation founded in 2000, works with private and public sector partners to help launch startups and commercialize medical and other technological discoveries.
From 1913 to 2000, the MaRS Heritage Building was the 'College Wing' of the Toronto General Hospital, one of the hubs responsible for the clinical development of insulin, heparin and technologies such as the artificial kidney (hemodialysis) and pacemaker.
The MaRS Heritage four-storey brick façade has been preserved and, in 2006, the MaRS Centre received the Heritage Toronto Award of Excellence for Architectural Conservation and Craftsmanship.
For more information on the announcement, click
here.
