Post by Marion Hitchcock

This week’s “mile𝘴𝘵𝘰𝘯𝘦” wasn’t a metaphor – we laid our CORNER𝘚𝘛𝘖𝘕𝘌! 🧱 Embedded with a time capsule that holds #blueprints – both to the building as well as to life: a sample of actual #cells! 🧬 There are moments in long projects when things suddenly become real. When ideas, slides, and endless discussions turn into something tangible. Standing there this week, seeing the foundation of the #BerlinCenterForGeneAndCellTherapies's future home being physically 'cemented' – that was one of those moments. When I first joined, this vision lived in strategy decks and PowerPoint slides. What felt almost overwhelming at times was the sheer number of stakeholders, partners, and perspectives coming together: - iQ spaces developing the building, together with UBS - based on a concept shaped by Charité - University Medicine Berlin, Berlin Institute of Health and Bayer - translated into architecture by HENN, supported by SMV Bauprojektsteuerung - financially supported by the Senatskanzlei Berlin and the Bundesministerium für Forschung, Technologie und Raumfahrt - and finally complemented by our GMP partner ProBioGen AG It truly 𝘵𝘢𝘬𝘦𝘴 𝘢 𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘨𝘦. But more than that, it takes belief, persistence, and the courage to keep going – even when the path isn’t always straightforward. I felt a deep sense of respect this week. For the leaders across all partner organizations, for our public partners who backed this vision, and for everyone who kept pushing forward – turning an ambitious idea into something real. And above all, for the #team. The #people behind the scenes who show up every day, solving problems, navigating complexity, and building this vision step by step – brick by brick. What connects everyone is a shared #passion: to create a place that helps support innovators to bring new therapies to #patients in need faster. Being part of this journey means a lot – and seeing it take physical shape now makes me even more excited for everything that lies ahead! A huge shout out to everyone involved for pushing forward no mater what! Stefan Oelrich, Heyo K. Kroemer, Prof. Dr. Christopher Baum, Dr. Claus Runge, Bettina von Streit, Tobias Helmstorf, Gerrit Goudefroy, Füsun Eker, Jenya Kaploun, Chris Wright, Ulrike Schröder, Angelo Fischer, Frank Dräger, Wolfram Carius, Ruth R. Shah, Simon Cladders, Borisenko Ljudmila, Hana Rauschenbach, Matthias Wiemann, Ulrich Grosskinski, Heuer Birgit, Steffen Philipp, EUROLABORS AG #BCGCT #CellAndGeneTherapy #BiotechEcosystems #Startups #Innovation #TeamBayer, #Berlin