Andrew M. Cuomo - Governor

http://www.governor.ny.gov/press/07082014-suny-biomedical-research

Albany, New York(July 8, 2014)

Campuses to share award to research treatments and cures for diseases and brain disorders

Governor Andrew M. Cuomo today announced $900,000 in funding for projects supported by the State University of New York Health Network of Excellence. This first round of funding will be awarded to six projects engaging students and faculty on nine SUNY campuses and their partners in the private sector to research causes, treatments and cures for diseases and brain disorders.

"This investment will help continue New York's rich tradition of leading medical advancement for the global community," said Governor Cuomo. "The funding will provide scientists the infrastructure and talent that they need in order to continue conducting world-class research in the State, and establishes yet another opportunity for colleges and universities to bolster upstate New York's growing medical economy.”

"Across New York, SUNY students and faculty are sharing their ideas and research findings with industry experts, collectively discovering new ways to diagnose and treat serious disease and other health matters," said SUNY Chancellor Nancy L. Zimpher. "As evidenced by each of these projects, the Networks of Excellence have taken SUNY's research portfolio to a whole new level and positioned our system to make an even greater contribution to improved health care in New York State and beyond. Congratulations to all of the project partners supported by this first round of funding."

The SUNY Health Network of Excellence, one of five networks throughout SUNY, was created to engage and maximize the system's diverse strengths in biomedical research.

Dr. Timothy Killeen, president of the RF and SUNY vice chancellor for research, said, "SUNY's breadth and depth in the field of biomedical research is impressively evident across each of the awarded projects. The SUNY Health Network of Excellence effectively integrates assets in structural biochemistry, RNA research for drug design, personalized medicine, clinical research and 'big data' to support multi-scale clinical trials and public health research."

Each of the following projects will receive approximately $150,000 as a result of today's announcement:

• Developing a new 3D printing technology for custom manufacturing of soft tissues used in organ transplantation; (University at Albany, Binghamton University, Cornell University, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute)

• Identifying novel drug targets and inhibitors to eradicate Tuberculosis (TB), which kills approximately 1.2 million people each year; (University at Buffalo, Downstate Medical Center, Stony Brook University)

• Creating a rapid and highly sensitive hand-held biosensor platform to advance clinical health care and accelerate diagnosis and detection of human neural pathologies including stroke, Alzheimer's Disease, and traumatic brain injury; (University at Buffalo, College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering, Cornell University, SUNY Cortland, Upstate Medical University)

• Positioning SUNY as a leader in healthcare big data research through the development of a Clinical Integrated Data Repository (CIDR) of electronic health record data generated by all SUNY entities that provide clinical care. (University at Albany, University at Buffalo, Cornell University, Downstate Medical Center, Upstate Medical University)

• Discovering and developing new drugs and antibiotics to combat Gram-positive pathogens or bacteria that cause serious infection or disease. (University at Albany, University at Buffalo, Albany Molecular Research)

• Establishing the SUNY Network Aging Partnership (SNAP) to coordinate collaborative research across SUNY's four medical universities to facilitate competition for scientific funding, accelerate publication of research projects, and recruit and mentor trainees. The Partnership will investigate frailty and ways to enhance lifespan across the health spectrum. (University at Buffalo, Downstate Medical Center, Stony Brook University, Upstate Medical University) More information, and a detailed abstract for all six projects, is available online.

SUNY Health is one of five SUNY Networks of Excellence established within the last year to increase research collaborations and spur commercialization activities between SUNY and industry partners in core research areas. The others are SUNY 4E (Energy, Environment, Education, Economics), SUNY Brain, and SUNY Materials and Advanced Manufacturing, and SUNY Arts and Humanities. About The Research Foundation

The Research Foundation for SUNY (RF) is the largest, most comprehensive university-connected research foundation in the country. The RF manages SUNY's research portfolio providing essential sponsored programs administration and innovation support services to SUNY faculty and students performing research in life sciences and medicine; engineering and nanotechnology; physical sciences and energy; social sciences, and computer and information sciences. The RF moves SUNY ideas and inventions to the marketplace collaborating with business and industry to create new opportunity and new jobs for New York State. To learn more about the RF visit www.rfsuny.org.

About the State University of New York

The State University of New York is the largest comprehensive university system in the United States, educating nearly 463,000 students in more than 7,500 degree and certificate programs, and more than 1.8 million NYS citizens in professional development and personal enrichment programs, on 64 college and university campuses, and online through Open SUNY. There are nearly 3 million SUNY alumni worldwide. To learn more about how SUNY creates opportunity, visit www.suny.edu.

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