The Shirley Ann Jackson, Ph.D. Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies is a research facility at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI). The 218,000-square-foot (20,300 m2) building is located on 15th Street between RPI’s Playhouse and Academy Hall, next to the Center for Industrial Innovation. The institute hopes the new facility will help to encourage collaboration between experts in different fields, allowing them to solve problems that they would be unable to solve alone. As of 2008, the director of the center is Jonathan Dordick. The building cost $100M.