Research Institutions

The New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics & Life Sciences (CoE) combines expertise from research and academic institutions that have been operating for more than 100 years with the University at Buffalo (UB), as the lead organization, and two research partners, Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute and Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

University at Buffalo (UB)
The State University of New York

University at Buffalo was founded in 1846 as a private medical college and merged with the State University of New York system in 1962. Today UB is New York State's premier public center for graduate and professional education, as well as the state's largest and most comprehensive public university. A member of the prestigious Association of American Universities, the University at Buffalo stands in the first rank among the nation's research-intensive public universities.

With multiple campuses throughout the Buffalo Niagara area, UB’s strengths in medicine, engineering, and computer science enable multidisciplinary research and provide education through more than 100 academic departments and programs at a level of excellence that few universities can match. The faculty of UB's professional schools share an unusually strong research orientation with their counterparts in the arts and sciences, and together they have established an outstanding record of research, scholarship, and creative activity.

Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute (HWI)

The Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute (HWI) is an independent, non-profit, biomedical research facility located in the heart of downtown Buffalo 's medical campus. For almost half a century, HWI scientists have been committed to improving human health through study, at a molecular level, of the causes and potential cures of many diseases. In contrast to clinical research, the focus of Hauptman-Woodward's basic research is to determine the structures of individual substances such as proteins that play a role in the development of specific diseases. This research explores questions like the following: What is the three-dimensional shape of a particular protein molecule? How and with what does this protein interact? What controls these interactions? What structural alterations lead to the development of disease?

Working under the leadership of Nobel-Laureate Herbert Hauptman, HWI scientists use the techniques of molecular biology, biochemistry, and crystallography to answer these questions. The results of their investigations provide the starting point for better drug design. In addition, other research on-going at HWI seeks to improve the methods of crystallization and data analysis used for molecular structure determination by scientists worldwide.

Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI)

Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), founded in 1898, is the nation's first cancer research, treatment and education center and is the only National Cancer Institute designated comprehensive care center in Upstate New York. From its inception, RPCI's mission has been cancer research and treatment. Since then, groundbreaking research by RPCI scientists has led to greater understanding of the nature of cancer and to major advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment that are now in use worldwide. RPCI instituted the nation's first chemotherapy program, pioneered studies on the relationship between smoking and lung cancer and developed photodynamic therapy (PDT) and the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test. A comprehensive cancer genetics program, now under development at RPCI, will rival the world's leading programs in that field. The Institute also made significant contributions to the landmark human genome project. RPCI's Center for Pharmacology and Therapeutics is one of the few centers in the nation capable of all phases of drug development, from the conceptual stage through manufacturing and testing. In 2004, RPCI's strong basic and clinical research programs attracted major research grants and contracts totaling more than $75 million. The Institute has sponsored or collaborated on more than 350 clinical trials of promising new cancer treatments.

News

Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus to Revamp Trico Site
07/19/2008 - BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Armed with a $4.5 million cash transfusion, the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus is pushing ahead with a key physical expansion.  Patrick Whelan, BNMC chief operating officer, said funding approved last week by the Empire State Development Corp. will aid a $12 million effort to turn a portion of the former Trico windshield wiper plant into a high-tech innovation center...[Read On...]

Quantum Rod System May Safely 'Sneak' Drugs, Diagnostics into Brain
07/16/2008 - BUFFALO, N.Y. -- A unique nanoparticle system developed by University at Buffalo scientists takes advantage of the versatility of bioconjugated quantum rods to ferry novel diagnostic and therapeutic agents across the blood-brain barrier, according to recent in vitro findings. Described in a paper published in Bioconjugate Chemistry, the system uses the rod-shaped semiconductor nanoparticles that are bioconjugated, or coupled, with biomolecules capable of crossing the blood-brain barrier...[Read On...]

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Events

September 23, 2008 - MedTech08 Biosciences Summit
Growing, Changing, Booming: Adapting healthcare to the needs of an aging population.  Join us at The Lodge in Skaneateles NY for this exciting daylong event packed with industry leaders sharing their strategies for successfully adapting to the aging boomer demographic.  To learn more and register, Click here

October 27-28, 2008 - AACR Centennial Symposium
Roswell Park Cancer Institute is hosting the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Centennial Symposium, entitled “The Future of Cancer Research: Science and Patient Impact”, this fall.  To learn more and register, Click here.

To view the complete list of events and event details, please visit our Events page

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