University at Buffalo - The State University of New York

Published: June 8, 2006

By KEVIN FRYLING
Reporter Staff Writer

The University at Buffalo celebrated a major achievement Friday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony formally opening UB's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences, an initiative that officials hope will develop new medical drugs and treatments, as well as revitalize the local economy and transition Buffalo into a hub for ground-breaking life-sciences research and industry.

Gov. George Pataki, the "architect" of the Center of Excellence, told those gathered for the ribbon-cutting that the Center of Excellence will bring economic growth and cutting-edge careers to Buffalo.
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The modern architectural design of the 130,000-square-foot facility—with a front facade constructed of glass, metal and white aluminum with a pearlescent finish—acted as backdrop to a roster of politicians and local leaders who spoke outdoors before a crowd estimated at 500.

"This building is a harbinger of new directions in scientific research between [UB] and our collaborators, as well as Western New York's investment in the life sciences and economic development," said UB President John B. Simpson. "The work that goes on here will improve the quality of life for people in Western New York and, perhaps, millions of others around the world."

Bruce A. Holm, UB senior vice provost and executive director of the Center of Excellence, noted that since Simpson's arrival as UB's 14th president in January 2004, he initiated the UB 2020 strategic planning process designed to make the university one of the leading public research universities in the country.

"We view many of the elements of what will go on in these buildings as the embodiment and the first implementations of those principles," Holm said.

The Center for Excellence, located at the corner of Virginia and Ellicott streets, was constructed by New York State at a cost of $52 million. State funding for the center and its programs totals $89.4 million. The center also has received $27.75 million in direct federal funding, $3.5 million from the John R. Oishei Foundation and $1.5 million from the Margaret L. Wendt Foundation. Private-sector contributions are estimated at $60 million.

Gov. George E. Pataki, who proposed the creation of the Center of Excellence in 2001 as part of a statewide plan to jump-start the economy through high-technology centers of excellence across the state, told those gathered for the ribbon-cutting that the initiative will bring economic growth and state-of-the-art careers to the area.

From left, Thomas Beecher, chairman and president of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus; Nobel Laureate Herbert Hauptman; and Rev. Msgr. Patrick Keleher, director of the Newman Centers at UB, chat during a reception following the ribbon-cutting.

"Research scientists—500 new employees in this complex—are going to develop new products to fight cancer and Krabbe Disease and other terrible diseases," Pataki said. "Those products are going to be manufactured, and we hope the spin-off technologies—the jobs that come from those new product breakthroughs—happen in Buffalo and Western New York."

The Center of Excellence, a major research center of UB, works in close collaboration with research partners Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institution (HWI) and Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI). RPCI's Center for Genetics and Pharmacology, which also marked its grand opening on Friday, is adjacent to the UB Center of Excellence. An overhead walkway will connect the Center of Excellence to the new HWI building, which opened in May 2005, across Ellicott Street. The three buildings constitute the new Buffalo Life Sciences Complex on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

Buffalo Mayor Byron W. Brown called the opening of the Center of Excellence a "truly a great event for Buffalo and our future. For several years we have watched the transformation of this increasingly dynamic and important section of Buffalo: the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus.

The partners in this important evolution—New York State, the University at Buffalo, Roswell Park, the Hauptman-Woodward Institute and others—deserve our praise and admiration for their commitment to successfully completing this project," Brown said.

Added David Hohn, president and CEO of RPCI: "Partnerships and collaborations are the key to 21st-century science and all successes in the future of this field."

Candace Johnson, senior vice president for translational research for RPCI, said collaboration was essential to realizing the center's construction as well. Varying interests—public and private, business and academic, federal and state, Democratic and Republican—all banded together to secure funds and support.

"The University at Buffalo, Roswell Park and Hauptman-Woodward taught us collaboration, relationships and working together, said Rep. Thomas M. Reynolds. "It became the model for us working together."

Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton said that the Center of Excellence to date has launched 29 new life-science companies, including several possessing "billion-dollar market potential."

Leaving the Center of Excellence are, left to right, Gov. George Pataki, Executive Director Bruce Holm, Rep. Thomas Reynolds and Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton.

"The Center of Excellence has helped fuel the life-sciences economy in Buffalo Niagara with the documentation of more than 4,000 new and retained life-science jobs in the area since the initiation of this project," Clinton said. Federal investment in the center, she pointed out, has resulted in a "five-to-one return in new NIH (National Institutes of Health) and private foundation awards for Center of Excellence scientists."

Clinton noted that some of the more recent medical achievements to come out of the area include the "smart pill," research on nanomedicine and investigation into insulin as an anti-inflammatory agent in heart disease.

Bioinformatics takes pure research and "makes it practical," so that diseases such as diabetes, Alzheimer's or Parkinson's can be cured, said Sen. Charles E. Schumer. "Bioinformatics does what has been needed for a long time," he said.

Schumer said the Center of Excellence represents hope for breakthroughs in medical interventions and treatments and jobs in terms of the commercialization locally of its research efforts.

The establishment of the bioinformatics and life-science industries, as well as entrepreneurship, are part of the region's "reinvention," said State Assembly Majority Leader Paul A. Tokasz.

State Sen. Dale M. Volker added that institutions such as UB and its partners have made Buffalo a longtime national and international contributor to advances in medical treatments.

"We do not realize the impact of what this region delivers—to ourselves and to the rest of the country," he said.

During a media tour that preceded the opening ceremony, Marnie LaVigne, director of business development at the Center of Excellence, said the new structure is designed to encourage collaboration and facilitate the transition from research to business development. She noted that innovative features include a floor plan generating flow between science and business workspaces, shared wet labs and advanced equipment areas, and dual-function storage areas/corridors, which is both efficient and encourages cross-discipline conversations between researchers.