The New York Stem Cell Foundation is expanding its operations in Manhattan, N.Y., according to The Wall Street Journal.
Here are five key facts:
1. The 10-year-old nonprofit foundation has signed a 20-year lease for an expansion from its current 20,000 square feet to about 42,000 square feet.
2. According to the foundation's Chief Executive Susan Solomon, the new space will include a laboratory, offices and common areas, and will expand the foundation's technological capacity, as well as accommodate more than double the current staff, which today includes 45 full-time scientists.
3. The foundation has been working on robotic technology to automate the process of creating stem cells using patients' skin or blood samples.
4. This expansion comes as the city is trying to develop its biotech industry. The city's Economic Development Corp., announced $150 million in funding for life-science companies and plans to redevelop a city-owned building as a bioscience research center.
5. The new building is also home to other medical tenants, including the Roosevelt Surgery Center and the Rogosin Institute.