MGH Institute Expands Research Efforts, Opens New Center in Charlestown Navy Yard

MGH Institute of Health Professions has added more than 14,000 square feet of space to accommodate its rapidly expanding research efforts.

The official ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new Center for Health & Rehabilitation Research in Building 79/96, located at the east end of the Charlestown Navy Yard, occurred December 5.

The space provides necessary laboratory space for the Charlestown graduate school’s growing cadre of faculty researchers in speech-language pathology, nursing, and physical therapy.

“This space is intended to inspire faculty, provide more opportunities for our students, and complement the existing research community in the Navy Yard,” Board of Trustees Chair George E. Thibault, MD, told the audience. “This is an incredible moment in the history of the Institute.”

Dr. Thibault said the Center fulfills a commitment made three years ago by the Board of Trustees to significantly raise the Institute’s research profile. The decision has allowed the school to launch a PhD in Rehabilitation Sciences program, as well as recruit several internationally known researchers to join the faculty during the past 18 months.

The new researchers, along with their teams of managers, post-doctoral fellows, and PhD students, are using research grants from public and private sources to support their efforts:

• The Speech and Feeding Disorders Lab, under the direction of Department of Communication Science and Disorders Professor and Director Jordan Green, PhD, CCC-SLP, is dedicated to improving the understanding of typical and disordered speech and feeding;
• The Speech and Language Literacy Lab (SAiL Literacy Lab) is home to the work of Department of Communication Sciences and Disorders Professor and Director Tiffany Hogan, PhD, CCC-SLP. It is part of a research consortium studying how language affects reading skills for children from pre-kindergarten through third grade;
  
• The Fatigue-Related Symptom Lab, led by School of Nursing Amelia Peabody Chair in Nursing Research Lisa Wood, PhD, RN, FAAN, focuses on cancer related fatigue syndrome, one of the most common and debilitating side effects of cancer treatment. Dr. Wood is sharing with investigators from Spaulding laboratory space that is equipped to support basic biological research; and
• The Biomotion Laboratory allows researchers in the Department of Physical Therapy to study disorders of movement. Assistant Professor Janet Kneiss, PT, PhD, MS, oversees work in the lab and will soon be joined by other researchers from physical therapy and occupational therapy.

“These recent additions of research faculty and facilities represent a major step towards the Institute’s goal of becoming a leader in health and rehabilitation research to complement its already stellar educational programs,” noted Director of Research Programs Robert E. Hillman, PhD, CCC-SLP.