Printer-friendly Version

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 22, 2004

SCHUMER, CLINTON SECURES $5.25 MILLION FOR BIOINFORMATICS CENTER

$5.25 million would head to SUNY Buffalo to support its revolutionary Center for Bioinformatics

US Senators Charles Schumer and Hillary Clinton today announced that Congress passed theFY2005 Omnibus Appropriations bill which included $5.25 million for the State University of Buffalo’s Center for Bioinformatics. The funding includes $500,000 in the Labor Health and Human Services Appropriations section of the bill, $750,000 in the Energy/Water Appropriations section of the bill, and $4 million in the NASA Appropriations section of the bill. The bill now heads to the President for his signature.

"This money do will great things for Buffalo’s economy while supporting major advances that will improve the lives of Americans,” said Schumer. “This funding for Bioinformatics will help the university in its drive to develop a state-of-the-art research center. We've been fighting tooth and nail to bring federal money home for Bioinformatics and the money couldn't come at a better time.”

“The Center for Excellence continues to make great discoveries and develop new technologies, moving from strength to strength and putting Buffalo at the forefront of scientific research. I am pleased that we can continue to support the Center and everything that it means for Buffalo’s future,” Senator Clinton said.

The Bioinformatics center at the University of Buffalo uses sophisticated computer technologies to analyze vast amounts of data found through the Human Genome Project -- making possible the development of new drugs that could transform the world of medicine. The center will transform cutting edge biological discoveries and will fuse the University at Buffalo's skills and those of its partners in high-performance computing, high-end visualization, genomics, proteomics and bioimaging to advance health care science.

The center will also act as a research, development, education, and economic outreach resource for industries based on bioinformatics, including those engaged in information technology, biotechnology, and pharmaceuticals. It will provide resources for workforce development and training to provide the high-tech workforce assets required to attract and retain critical sectors of the biomedical, information technology, and bioinformatics industries in Buffalo.

Bioinformatics technology takes advantage of Buffalo's renowned medical, academic, and research institutions, such as the University at Buffalo, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, as well as companies such as Veridian, all of which will work in partnership.

###