PHOENIX, Ariz. — March 18, 2025 — HonorHealth Research Institute today announced the opening of its new $7 million Center for Translational Science laboratory in the heart of the Phoenix Bioscience Core (PBC), a 30-acre downtown campus that is home to dozens of biotech businesses and includes branches of all three Arizona public research universities.
This laboratory, which includes lab bays, a tissue culture room and faculty office space, is the first significant physical footprint of the Center for Translational Science, whose goal is to take scientific breakthroughs at the HonorHealth Research Institute and translate them into new devices, drugs and preventative measures that will improve the lives of patients.
“Not only does this laboratory deepen our commitment to translational science and innovation, but its strategic location on the downtown bioscience campus is key to development of our collaborations with Arizona State University, the University of Arizona, and other public and private institutes and businesses,” said Mark Slater, Ph.D., HonorHealth Vice President of Research and CEO of HonorHealth Research Institute.
“This state-of-the-art facility compliments and builds on our two decades of investigational therapeutics and will help take the Institute to the next level in the coming decades,” Dr. Slater said. “It’s a part of the overall strategy of HonorHealth to reach out and have a presence across Maricopa County as we help Arizona realize its dream of being a national and international biotech leader, helping drive both economic and clinical benefits.”
Directing HonorHealth’s new Center and its laboratory is Sunil Sharma, M.D., M.B.A., who for more than three decades has been at the national forefront of drug research and clinical trial design.
“The idea behind the Center for Translational Science is to have a broad set of what I call platform technologies that can be brought to bear on various disease sets; that will allow disease-specific clinicians and other specialists to come and work together through this new laboratory to help patients,” said Dr. Sharma, the HonorHealth Research Institute’s Chief of Translational Research and Drug Discovery.
Building on a broad vision
“The vision is quite broad, but the first step is to set up this translational laboratory,” said Dr. Sharma, who foresees the potential for additional research facilities in downtown Phoenix and at the Institute’s hospital campuses in Phoenix and Scottsdale.
Michael Gordon, M.D., FASCO, HonorHealth Research Institute’s Chief Medical Officer, agreed: “This new laboratory reinforces HonorHealth’s commitment to be a more panoramic player in delivering state-of-the-art and state-of-the-science care to our patients. It’s one thing to conduct clinical trials based on others’ research. It is another to strategize, devise and implement new treatments on the basis of evidence and conclusions that are drawn from your own laboratory-based research.
“The location of the lab puts us squarely in the midst of the Phoenix bioscience campus and allows us to be engaging with, and collaborating and partnering with, larger and more established institutions,” said Dr. Gordon, who specifically mentioned:
• The new U of A Center for Advanced Molecular and Immunological Therapies (CAMI), which is devoted to developing new strategies for the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cancers, infectious diseases and autoimmune conditions;
• Center for Applied NanoBioscience and Medicine at the U of A College of Medicine-Phoenix;
• ASU’s new School of Medicine and Advanced Engineering, intended to produce physician-leaders in health care by blending the disciplines of medicine, engineering, technology and humanities. In October, HonorHealth was selected to be the school’s primary clinical affiliate.
“We congratulate HonorHealth on this transformative achievement and we look forward to our collaboration as we strive to improve health outcomes in Arizona,” said Sherine Gabriel, Executive Vice President of ASU Health. “We are excited to leverage ASU's assets in the Phoenix Bioscience Core, and to continue working with HonorHealth to establish the PBC as an international biotech leader."
Wexford hosts new HonorHealth laboratory
The laboratory for HonorHealth Research Institute’s Center for Translational Science is housed in 850 PBC, a 7-story building at 850 N. Fifth St. developed by Wexford Science + Technology, a nationwide real estate company exclusively focused on partnering with universities, academic medical centers, healthcare systems, and research institutions to create mixed-use knowledge communities built on a foundation of discovery, innovation, entrepreneurial activity, corporate engagement and community inclusion.
“We are excited to welcome HonorHealth Research Institute to 850 PBC and be able to support the partnership between HonorHealth and ASU. We are grateful to host Dr. Sharma and the team and look forward to seeing the amazing research produced,” said Kyle Jardine, Vice President at Wexford Science + Technology, which has helped shape similar collaborations in 17 cities with institutions, including the University of Pennsylvania, the University of Maryland, the University of California (San Diego and Davis), Wake Forest University, and many more.
Scarlett Spring, Executive Director of the PBC, emphasizing the significance of the new laboratory, said: “Talent is the currency of innovation, and we’re thrilled to welcome Dr. Sunil Sharma and his team. He has been at the heart of translational science, and by bringing together top-tier clinical expertise with cutting-edge research capabilities, the collaboration between HonorHealth, ASU, UA, and other PBC stakeholder will accelerate the development of groundbreaking medical treatments for our community and beyond.”
Bridging academia and clinical research
Frederic Zenhausern, Ph.D., MBA, a senior scientist at HonorHealth Research Institute, and director of the Center for Applied NanoBioscience and Medicine at the University of Arizona College of Medicine-Phoenix, said the new laboratory provides an opportunity to blend university academia and the clinical efforts of HonorHealth and its collaborators.
“I think it will have an impact validating academic discoveries for producing outcomes that could be delivered to the patient,” said Dr. Zenhausern, who also is a Professor at the university’s Basic Medical Sciences and Biomedical Engineering. A primary example is his study of nanovesicles from plants as a targeted and less toxic delivery system for new drug therapeutics.
“I think this new laboratory will be a collaborative effort that will accelerate discoveries and advance therapies and drug-delivery systems,” Dr. Zenhausern said.
Dr. Gordon agreed: “As the primary clinical affiliate for the new ASU medical school, we are enthusiastic enough to invest in establishing programs like this, which we hope will be a center point and nidus for the growth of other crystalline structures that contribute to the greater good in a translational way — the way an oyster generates a pearl,” he said. “As we begin to engender success, particularly with our ASU partners, we hope to be able to leverage that into new opportunities.”
While HonorHealth’s commitment to the new research laboratory is substantial, Dr. Slater said, it is essential to develop a world class cross-cutting translational research program that will increase philanthropy, grants, contract funding and intellectual property, while generating spin-off companies and royalties that can be plowed back into research.
“Having state-of-the-art laboratory facilities right here in Arizona, having it part of the Phoenix bioscience campus,” Dr. Slater said, “is a key resource not only for the Research Institute but also for our partners, affiliates and collaborators.”
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About the HonorHealth Research Institute
HonorHealth Research Institute is an international destination that is at the forefront of providing patients with a better quality of life through its clinical trials and innovative treatment options. Headquartered in Scottsdale, Arizona, the institute’s team of physicians and researchers collaborate with experts from across the nation to offer life-changing therapies, drugs and devices. At HonorHealth Research Institute, patients have access to tomorrow’s health innovations, today. Learn more at: HonorHealth.com/research.
About the Phoenix Bioscience Core
The Phoenix Bioscience Core (PBC) is a 30-acre life sciences innovation district located in downtown Phoenix. It hosts Arizona's three public research universities — Arizona State University, Northern Arizona University, and the University of Arizona — as well as leading genomics pioneers like the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), part of the City of Hope, and the International Genomics Consortium. The PBC also collaborates with major healthcare systems, including Banner Health, Phoenix Children's Hospital, Dignity Health, HonorHealth, Phoenix VA, and Valleywise Health, alongside a growing number of emerging life science companies. This unique concentration of research scientists and healthcare professionals fosters unprecedented collaborations, advancing precision medicine from discovery to delivery. To learn more, please visit phoenixbiosciencecore.com.
About Wexford Science & Technology
Wexford Science & Technology, LLC, is a real estate company exclusively focused on partnering with universities, academic medical centers, and research institutions to develop vibrant, mixed-use, amenity-rich Knowledge Communities that are built on a foundation of research, discovery, innovation, entrepreneurial activity, corporate engagement, and community inclusion. These Knowledge Communities create visible outcomes in the form of substantial economic growth, new and diverse jobs, and community transformation. Wexford targets strategic opportunities with top-tier research universities that are seeking to create knowledge-led economic development impact for their campuses, cities, and regions. Presently Wexford has developed or is developing seventeen Knowledge Communities across North America. For more information about Wexford, visit www.wexfordscitech.com.