Environment and Facilities

The Wellman Center occupies almost 32,000 sq. ft. in several contiguous buildings on the main campus of the Massachusetts General Hospital. Its location within a academic hospital setting is an important component of its identity and mission as a translational research center. Close proximity to clinicians in a wide variety of specialties facilitates collaborative clinical research that ultimately accelerates the "bench to bedside" transition of Wellman 's research. View Map of Wellman Facilities.

Wellman's physical location also plays an important role in its educational mission. Several universities with pre-doctoral training programs in the biomedical and physical sciences are close by and send students to perform thesis research at Wellman. In addition to its long-standing relationship with Harvard Medical School (all Wellman faculty have HMS appointments), Wellman has established a special relationship with MIT, particularly its Health Sciences and Technology (HST) program. Wellman faculty have affiliate appointments, and several also teach, in the HST program.

The Center contains well-equipped biochemistry, cell biology, and photochemistry laboratories and specialized facilities for diagnostic imaging and spectroscopy and laser research. A dedicated photopathology laboratory serves researchers needing characterization of tissue samples. A complete animal operating facility is directly adjacent to the Center. The Clinical Dermatology Applications area is dedicated to the conduct of clinical investigations of various phototherapies. Wellman's latest addition, the Advanced Microscopy Lab, is located in the newly constructed Simches Research building.