Ground broken on new $US65 million facility at Colorado State University – Horsetalk

CSU president Tony Frank: Well be moving things from the bench or laboratory into the hospital, from theory to practice, and patients from disease into health.

Ground has officially been broken on the new $US65 million translational medicine facility at Colorado State University (CSU), to be named in honor of acclaimed New Zealand-born equine arthroscopic specialist Wayne McIlwraith.

The ceremony took place on Friday at the site of the C. Wayne McIlwraith Translational Medicine Institute.

The facility, which required years of planning and record fundraising to reach this point, promises medical innovations by harnessing the bodys healing powers to help animals and people suffering from a wide range of diseases.

Dr. David Frisbie, the institutes interim operations director and a CSU professor of equine surgery, hailed the milestone event in his opening remarks.

As he welcomed those in attendance some 150 faculty, staff, clinicians and donors he described the journey that led to the groundbreaking near the Diagnostic Medicine Center.

This building will be a central focus of scientific advancement as well as research, Frisbie said. The teaching and technology resources will be a beacon to great minds so that they can come together in developing healing technologies for not only people but animals as well.

The facility is named in honor of a veterinarian who has built a remarkable clinical and research enterprise in orthopaedic medicine for horses during nearly 40 years at the university.

McIlwraith, a University Distinguished Professor and founding director of CSUs Orthopaedic Research Center, is an international pioneer in equine arthroscopic surgery.

He has also pushed the boundaries of research into biological therapies based on living cells and their products, including novel protein and stem-cell therapies that help heal injured and degraded joints.

Many of McIlwraiths findings regarding the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of equine joint injury and disease have been translated into orthopaedic advancements for people the succession known as translational medicine.

CSU president Tony Frank said the use of the word translational was an appropriate and important description of what would take place in the building.

Well be moving things from the bench or laboratory into the hospital, from theory to practice, and patients from disease into health, he said.

The word transformational also came up quite a bit in conversations with the lead donors, John and Leslie Malone, according to Frank.

The idea of changing something completely is a daunting one, he explained. With the new institute, the university would completely change the way we go after disease problems, and the way we put teams together, looking across biology and into engineering.

He continued: Changing something completely and making efforts this large are heady conversations. Theyre not new to the people who had the vision for this building, Frank said.

The Malones provided the lead gift of $US42.5 million to establish the research institute, prompted by their interest in the regenerative power of stem-cell therapies for horses and humans.

The Malones raise world-class dressage horses and Thoroughbred racehorses. They became intrigued by the concept of the Translational Medicine Institute after their horses at Harmony Sporthorses near Denver were successfully treated with orthopaedic procedures developed by McIlwraith and his colleagues.

John Malone said that he and his wife are fortunate to have the opportunity to support efforts such as the new research institute. This one, for us, really checked all the boxes: horses, education and research, he said. He added relentlessness, stem cells, and orthopedics to that mix.

As you get older, you appreciate stem cells and orthopedics, both in your horses and in your neck, in my case, he said.

Malone described the university as a practical, pragmatic place where researchers produced real-world results.

He also hailed the man after whom the building is named. If you could extract the source of Waynes energy and drive and put it in a bottle, that is an entrepreneurship Id invest in, he said.

Meeting McIlwraith and working with him had been one of the highlights of this effort, Malone added.

Adding to the Malones gift, Princess Abigail K. Kawananakoa of Hawaii, a direct descendant of the Hawaiian royal family and celebrated breeder of racing American Quarter Horses, donated the institutes naming gift of $US20 million.

McIlwraith has contributed to the success of Princess Abigails stable by supporting the orthopaedic health of her racehorses, inspiring her to give generously and to ask that the new facility be named for her longtime friend and colleague.

In his remarks, McIlwraith relayed his heartfelt thanks to the donors and acknowledged them as terrific philanthropists and visionaries.

The renowned surgeon said the idea for the institute was an evolutionary step beyond the work being conducted at the Orthopaedic Research Center, and would expand the mission and research focuses to cut a wider swath.

He said he was still getting used to the idea of having his name on the building.

Its an incredible honor, he said, choking up a bit with emotion. The thing thats touched me the most is all the people whove commented that its deserved or appropriate or they agree with it. Its humbling. I wasnt looking for a legacy, but I obviously have a fantastic one.

University officials estimate that the C. Wayne McIlwraith Translational Medicine Institute will open its doors in late fall 2018.

Reporting: Mary Guiden, Coleman Cornelius and Dell Rae Ciaravola

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Ground broken on new $US65 million facility at Colorado State University - Horsetalk