BUFFALO, N.Y. — The University at Buffalo has received $5 million from the State University of New York to lead development of a statewide, multicampus research network focused on accelerating collaborative research on Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other neurological conditions that affect older adults. 

The award is part of $10 million in New York State funding that supports the SUNY Brain Institute (SBI) and designates UB as the anchoring hub for the institute’s inaugural module, which is centered on age-related brain disorders.

“The University at Buffalo’s selection as an anchoring hub for the SUNY Brain Institute reflects our leadership in neuroscience and our capacity to bring together the expertise and research infrastructure needed to address some of medicine’s most complex challenges,” said Venu Govindaraju, senior vice president for research, innovation and economic development at UB. “By leading this statewide network, UB will accelerate discoveries and expand opportunities for scientific collaboration while advancing New York’s leadership in neuroscience research.”

In a news release announcing the funding, Gov. Kathy Hochul said that New York is investing in transformative research that dives into issues affecting communities throughout the state.

“By connecting leading researchers and advanced infrastructures across New York, the SUNY Brain Institute will accelerate work on Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, stroke, and other age-related brain disorders to find cures so families in every community have the quality time together that they deserve,” Hochul said. 

SBI was established last year as a multi-campus initiative focused on expanding SUNY’s groundbreaking neuroscience research. It will operate as a statewide network of thematic modules dedicated to specific areas of neuroscience. Each module will be led by an anchoring hub that provides scientific leadership and builds the governance, shared-access, data-sharing and operational infrastructure connecting affiliated nodes, which contribute complementary expertise, technologies, and research capabilities.

This first module, led by UB, will focus on age-related brain disorders, whose impact on disability and loss of independence is only expected to grow as the state’s population ages. 

“Age-related neurological disorders represent some of the most complex challenges in medicine,” said Marc W. Halterman, MD, PhD, UB Distinguished Professor of Neurology and senior associate dean for research in the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences at UB, principal investigator of the award and director of the anchoring hub. “The SUNY Brain Institute brings together complementary expertise, enabling technologies and the scale afforded by a statewide research network. By integrating discoveries across disciplines and data types, we can accelerate the development of new biomarkers, therapeutic targets, and approaches to diagnosis, treatment, and prevention.”

Supported by the $5 million award, as well as institutional matching funds, UB will serve as the anchoring hub for three years. The university will build and coordinate the shared-access, governance, data-integration, and operational framework that connects the module’s participating institutions and enables their complementary research capabilities to function as a statewide network. Partner institutions include SUNY Upstate Medical University, SUNY College of Optometry, SUNY Downstate Health Sciences University and Binghamton University. 

In addition to building and coordinating the statewide network, UB will contribute shared scientific capabilities in spatial biology, human disease modeling, drug development and multimodal data integration. Together, the five institutions will connect investigators, expand access to specialized expertise and infrastructure, accelerate individual and collaborative projects and foster new opportunities for scientific exchange and innovation.

Over time, this network will strengthen SUNY’s competitiveness for major federal grants, future state investment, foundation support and industry partnerships. It will also create new opportunities for students, postdoctoral fellows, research staff and faculty to engage in multicampus research, training and scientific programming.

“SUNY is leading innovative research to support and advance the public good for all New Yorkers. The SUNY Brain Institute’s work embodies SUNY's commitment to using higher education and research to dive into critical issues affecting communities across the state,” said SUNY Chancellor John B. King Jr. in a press release.

UB is a leading neuroscience research institution within a comprehensive basic, translational and clinical neuroscience ecosystem. Among the university’s ongoing neuroscience research is the development of an Alzheimer's vaccine that uses immunotherapy to target key sites on the disease's two main proteins, training the immune system to recognize and attack them more broadly.

In building and leading the statewide network, UB will leverage its comprehensive neuroscience enterprise, including nationally recognized strengths in neuroimaging, translational neuroscience and clinical research, together with its Clinical and Translational Science Institute, which has received more than $64 million in funding from the National Institutes of Health since 2015.

“This investment is a tremendous vote of confidence in the Jacobs School’s neuroscience community and our ability to bring people, expertise and technology together to tackle some of the most challenging neurological diseases,” said Allison Brashear, MD, vice president for health sciences and dean of the Jacobs School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences. “As hub director, Marc Halterman will help bring together investigators across SUNY to accelerate discovery and innovation in age-related brain disorders. Ultimately, our goal is to translate those discoveries into better outcomes for patients and their families.”