Emory University has announced a $50 million commitment from the Atlanta-based O. Wayne Rollins Foundation and Grace Crum Rollins to the Rollins School of Public Health to expand its facilities.

The grant will support the creation of a public health complex designed to enhance collaboration with Atlanta-based public health partners such as the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, CARE, the Carter Center, the American Cancer Society, the Arthritis Foundation, the Task Force for Child Survival and Development, Atlanta University, the Georgia Institute of Technology, and Georgia State University. Collaborative research funded by the gift will focus on areas such as global health, predictive health, infectious disease, nutrition, and chronic diseases.

Plans call for a multi-use facility with additional laboratory space, technologically "smart" classrooms, offices, and conference space with the capacity for specialized training, individualized distance learning, and professional exchange programs for sharing public health solutions globally.

"Expanding the physical space for public health will facilitate teaching and scholarship and will provide dynamic facilities conducive to building and maintaining key partnerships," said Michael M.E. Johns, CEO of the Woodruff Health Sciences Center. "The ability to collaborate with our local and global public health partners is essential if we are to harness the resources to meet the world's greatest challenges to health and well-being."