UAlbany CNSE enters NanoBio alliance with Albert Einstein College of Medicine

February 22, 2005

Leading medical college to partner with world's first nanotechnology college on emerging nanobiotechnology and nanomedicine research and education opportunities

The College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering (CNSE) of the University at Albany-State University of New York and the Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University today announced a new partnership to advance education and research in the cross-disciplinary fields of nanobiotechnology and nanomedicine.

The partnership will bring together the unique expertise and resources of both institutions to focus on the nanoscale principles and their application to disease identification and treatment development. CNSE is based at Albany NanoTech, one of the largest global centers of nanoscale scientific research with the most extensive nanotechnology facilities in the academic world. Albert Einstein College of Medicine, one of the nation's top medical schools, receives more than $150 million annually in federal support for innovative medical research.

Kermit Hall, Ph.D., President of the University at Albany said, "The 21st Century will be marked by exciting nanotechnology innovations that are enabled by multi-institutional academic enterprises. These innovations will drive the advancement of medicine, biotechnology, and life sciences. This initiative demonstrates the strength of the University's advanced research and our successful partnerships, and we're enormously proud to partner with the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in this important endeavor."

"We are excited to be entering into this strategic partnership with one of the premier medical colleges in the world, particularly as we ramp up our nanobiotechnology research and education initiatives," said Alain Kaloyeros, Ph.D., Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer of CNSE and President of Albany NanoTech. "Nanotechnology holds enormous promise for revolutionizing many areas of our lives, but none more promising than disease identification and treatment. We look forward to collaborating with the distinguished physicians, scientists, and students of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine on some of the most potentially exciting applications for nanoscale scientific concepts and tools."

"We feel very fortunate to have the UAlbany College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering -- the first of its kind in the world -- right here in New York State and we look forward to a long and fruitful collaborative partnership," said Ira M. Millstein, Chairman of the Board of Overseers of the Albert Einstein College of Medicine.

"As nanotechnology and medicine become ever more entwined, we believe that partnerships such as ours with the impressive nanoscience and nanoengineering faculty, scientists, and students of the College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering will serve as a new paradigm for cutting-edge research and education," added Dominick P. Purpura, M.D., The Marilyn and Stanley M. Katz Dean of the medical school.

According to the memorandum of understanding signed by CNSE and Albert Einstein, the two institutions will focus on educational and research programs designed "to advance medical science and the treatment of persons suffering from injury and disease by understanding the pathophysiology of specific diseases at the molecular scale." In particular, the programs will focus on developing the nanoscale knowledge base for the following objectives:

disease identification
therapy design and evaluation
clinical implementation
drug discovery and delivery
toxicology detection and cure
medical devices and components demonstration and deployment
Under the terms of the agreement, CNSE and Albert Einstein will provide their respective faculty and scientists with access to their respective facilities. In addition, both institutions are committed to maximize the number of collaborative programs that pertain to the application of nanotechnology in the biomedical field.

Under the first of these collaborative research programs, the Albert Einstein College is participating as a partner in the CNSE Center for Advanced Technology in Nanomaterials and Nanoelectronics (CATN2), which was recently designated by NYSTAR. Joint research thrusts focus on investigating and optimizing the interface between the world of biology and the world of nanofabrication to develop "bio-systems on a chip" (B-SOCs) for medical and biomedical applications.

Source: Albany NanoTech College of Nanoscale Science and Engineering