The Addiction Research Center will soon be able to expand its in-patient and out-patient drug research programs at Johns Hopkins Bayview Research Campus.
ARC, the research program of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, has been in its present 110,000-square-foot facility at Bayview since 1983.
It has leased an additional 25,000 square feet in two buildings. The additional space will allow ARC to offer a new, 80-slot out-patient program and increase the number of in-patient beds from 18 to as many as 32, according to Brian Butters, associate director.
In addition, ARC will obtain its own equipment for studying the precise movement of drugs through the brain, using an imaging device called
Positron Emission Tomography. In this research, small amounts of radioactive tracers are added to a drug before an addict takes it, giving scientists precise pictures of where the drug goes and how it acts. The technique might lead to new treatments for addicts.
The 131-acre Bayview campus, formerly the home of Baltimore City Hospital, now houses the National Institute on Aging's Gerontology Research Center, Nova Pharmaceutical Corp., the Johns Hopkins Asthma and Allergy Center and the Francis Scott Key Medical Center.
In all, Bayview employs 3,900 people, according to Leslie Waldman, a Hopkins spokeswoman. Since 1987, redevelopment of the property has cost $180 million and has resulted in 600 new jobs, she said.