Penn Medicine Opens Reimagined Center for Autoimmune Research

Penn Medicine opened a $376 million facility in September of 2025 in Philadelphia to drive pioneering research in autoimmune disorders. Positioned atop an existing 250,000-sf office tower, the eight-story overbuild features wet laboratories, a vivarium, and a BSL-3 lab for the processing of infectious disease specimens. The 217,000-sf expansion was designed by Perkins&Will to stimulate collaboration and accelerate the development of new treatment modalities for conditions such as arthritis, lupus, diabetes, and multiple sclerosis. 

Housing both the Colton Center for Autoimmunity at Penn and the High-Throughput Institute for Discovery, the expansion will bring together scientists from diverse disciplines to promote advances in the definition of disease mechanisms and AI-guided drug repurposing. Office settings accommodate faculty in the departments of Biostatistics, Epidemiology, and Informatics, as well as Medical Ethics and Health Policy, General Internal Medicine, Emergency Medicine, Palliative Care, and Health Care Innovation.

Tracking LEED Gold Certification, the sustainable structure at 3600 Civic Center Boulevard was delivered by LF Driscoll in accordance with Integrated Project Delivery (IPD) principles including Lean construction and collaborative pull planning. Jaros, Baum & Bolles served as MEP engineer, with O’Donnell & Naccarato as structural engineer and Pennoni as civil engineer. Shen Milsom & Wilke (SM&W) provided audiovisual and information technology services.