FREDERICK, MD — U.S. Senator Ben Cardin (D-MD) today toured the new National Cancer Institute’s (NCI) state-of –the-art Advanced Technology Research Facility (ATRF) located at Riverside Research Park in Frederick, MD.  The Senator also received a detailed briefing about the facility, which is scheduled to officially open this summer.

The ATRF is part of the NCI’s Frederick National Laboratory for Cancer Research, the only federally funded research and development center in the nation dedicated to biomedical research and development, furthering the mission of the NCI.

“Maryland has become one of our nation’s premiere biomedical research centers and this new National Cancer Institute research facility is an investment in the future and in developing promising new treatments for diseases,” said Senator Cardin.  “It is a real plus for Frederick because it will bring high-paying jobs to the area and it will provide future start-up research and development businesses with a state-of-the-art facility for future growth.”

The ATRF will house biomedical research laboratories and a wide range of advanced technologies — genetics and genomics, proteomics, nanotechnology, advanced biomedical imaging, bioinformatics, and others. It will also be home to a drug development and cGMP manufacturing operation that will produce candidate drugs for human clinical trials.

The new, 330,000 square foot facility will consolidate staff and operations now scattered among more than 30 separate buildings on the NCI’s campus of the Frederick National Lab, located within the perimeter of Fort Detrick. About 250 employees will move into the new facility when it opens, with up to an additional 200 hires anticipated over the next five years. The ATRF site within the Riverside Research Park can accommodate future growth of up to 800,000 square feet, some of which is expected to accommodate business start-ups once it is fully operational.