New downtown medical school officially opens

The new building allows the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences to expand its class size by 25 percent, from 144 to 180 students, training many more doctors to address local and national physician shortages.

By Ellen Goldbaum

Published December 12, 2017 This content is archived.

The new building allows UB to train more doctors to alleviate physician shortages, achieve breakthroughs in biomedical research and transform health care in Buffalo.

“Moving the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences downtown is a major milestone for the University at Buffalo that has been a decade in the making. ”

Satish K. Tripathi, UB President

Sixty-four years after moving to the University at Buffalo’s South Campus, the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences has returned to downtown Buffalo.

The massive $375 million, 628,000-square-foot building officially opened today at 955 Main St., just steps from where it was located from 1893 to 1953.

The building was the first to receive NYSUNY 2020 Challenge Grant funding through NYSUNY 2020, legislation that was signed into law by Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo in 2011. The initiative has spurred economic growth across the state and strengthened the academic programs of New York’s public universities and colleges. The mission of the NYSUNY 2020 program is to elevate SUNY as a catalyst for regional economic development and affordable education.

“Western New York’s transformation into a national health sciences hub continues to grow as the new Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences building opens its doors to the future leaders of 21st century medicine, research and technology,” Governor Cuomo said. “By moving this state-of-the-art facility downtown, we strengthen Buffalo’s economy while helping to ensure the city’s growth and development continues strong.”

“Moving the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences downtown is a major milestone for the University at Buffalo that has been a decade in the making,” said UB President Satish K. Tripathi.