Moffitt Opens 250KSF Cancer Research Center In Pasco County

LAND O’ LAKES, FL — Moffitt Cancer Center has opened its 250,000-square-foot research facility at the Speros life sciences campus in Pasco County, bringing together scientists working to develop new cancer treatments, according to a news release.

The Moffitt Discovery and Innovation Center celebrated its grand opening on Thursday at 16480 Wilton Way in Land O’ Lakes. The facility focuses on research areas including drug discovery, bioengineering, tumor biology, cell therapies and radiopharmaceuticals.

By the end of the year, the building is expected to house 20 faculty laboratories, 12 shared research resources, and about 250 faculty members, researchers, postdoctoral fellows and support staff.

The center is designed to encourage collaboration among scientists from different disciplines, with shared research equipment, flexible laboratory spaces and designated areas for researchers to work together, the news release said.

The facility also includes radiochemistry laboratories for Moffitt’s Radiopharmaceutical Program, which launched in August. The program focuses on theranostics, an approach that combines diagnostic imaging with targeted radiation therapy.

“Theranostics represent a promising new method to diagnose and treat cancer,” Patrick Hwu, Moffitt’s president and CEO, said in a statement. “Moffitt is in a unique position to lead in radiopharmaceuticals, and we are investing in the talent and infrastructure to make it a strategic priority.”

The center also will include space for FORGE, a planned biotechnology incubator developed in partnership with Speros and Embarc Collective. The incubator is in the design phase and is expected to open in early 2028, the news release said.

The research center sits next to Moffitt’s Speros Outpatient Center and the Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation Proton Center, which together recorded more than 36,000 patient visits during the first half of 2026.

Speros is a 775-acre life sciences campus in Pasco County focused on cancer research, treatment and industry partnerships.

Josh Carpenter, president of Speros and Moffitt’s chief integration officer, said the campus is designed to bring research, clinical expertise and patient care together while attracting biotechnology companies.

“The Discovery and Innovation Center gives Speros its scientific engine,” he said in a statement. “We designed it with room to grow because industry will drive the next phase of Speros. Companies that locate here gain a real competitive advantage: the research, clinical expertise and patients they need to turn new discoveries into treatments, all on one campus.”

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