The La Jolla Institute for Immunology (LJI) is a nonprofit research organization dedicated to understanding the immune system and improving human health through the development of treatments and cures for immune system disorders. LJI is home to three research centers–the Center for Autoimmunity and Inflammation, the Center for Cancer Immunotherapy, and the Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research–which all depend on a clinical center to collect patient samples for use in their studies.
As a supporting facility for the Center for Infectious Disease and Vaccine Research, the new Center for Clinical Investigation evaluates how the body battles COVID-19 and conversely how infectious pathogens escape immune surveillance. The center previously operated out of a small converted copy room, but as the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic swept the globe, it became critical for LJI to have a larger, dedicated facility. The new center will also fuel LJI’s research into other infectious diseases, cancer and autoimmune diseases.
The facility houses multiple suites where nursing staff can interview patients and collect blood samples. Adjacent to the patient suites is a specialty lab where samples can be efficiently processed before moving up to LJI’s research labs for the next stage.
“The Center for Clinical Investigation at La Jolla Institute was formerly a storage area, and through the work of our facilities and operations led by John Keegan, we’ve been able to reconfigure this into a very efficiently designed facility,” said Mitchell Kronenberg, Ph.D., President and Chief Scientific Officer at LJI.
“We delivered a well-appointed, fully functional center for clinical investigation that was on budget, on schedule, and had zero COVID cases,” said John Keegan, Senior Director, Facilities and Operations at LJI.