New York State Senators play key role in kick-starting project
Cold Spring Harbor, NY — Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (CSHL) today announced the Center for Therapeutics Research (CTR) project, a new $75 million initiative to apply the Laboratory’s biomedical expertise toward advancing therapeutics for genetic diseases.
New York State is providing $25 million for construction and equipment funds to modernize an existing facility to house the Center. The renovation project will update the Demerec Laboratory, built in 1953, which has been home to the laboratories of four of CSHL’s eight Nobel Prize winners.
Funding from the State is part of an initiative to foster a research corridor on Long Island. Other major biomedical institutions on Long Island, peers and partners of CSHL, will also receive funding under the initiative, including Stony Brook University, Northwell Health, Brookhaven National Laboratory and Hofstra University.
“Thank you to all of our friends and supporters on Long Island who made the New York State funding for this project a reality,” said CSHL President & CEO Bruce Stillman. “We owe much to the leadership of Senate Majority Leader John J. Flanagan, and our New York State Senator Carl Marcellino. And we are proud to work with our peer research institutions to champion the critical role of the biomedical sector in the Long Island economy.”
Renovation of the existing Demerec Building will directly support 99 full-time-equivalent jobs in construction and related industries on Long Island and indirectly support 58 full-time-equivalent jobs with other Long Island businesses. Partnerships with industry, academia, private foundations and individuals, as well as competitive grants from federal agencies such as the National Institutes of Health, will provide the balance of $50 million required to support recruitment, lab start-up costs, research projects and operations of the CTR. Once constructed, the updated facility will be home to 30 new scientific staff and will help retain the jobs of 25 world-class scientists.
The 26,000-square-foot research facility renovation project is expected to start in the fall of 2016 with completion estimated by the end of 2018.
Senate Majority Leader Flanagan said: “Long Island’s biomedical research corridor is a driver of our regional economy, and the Long Island Senate delegation was pleased to bring the New York State Senate, Assembly and Governor together in support of this important CSHL initiative that will benefit so many here and around the world.”
Senator Marcellino said: “CSHL is a jewel in the crown of Long Island, creating high-paying jobs and discovering new therapies for diseases that benefit us all. I have been pleased to work with the Laboratory to kick-start this new therapeutics initiative in my district.”
The CTR places Long Island at the global nexus of biology, chemistry and medicine to better human health. The initiative will attract world-leading chemists who will develop drug targets discovered by biologists, transforming them into next-generation therapies. The work, too, will open new opportunities for partnerships with the pharmaceutical industry as well as additional recruitment, spin-off companies and jobs.
The new center at CSHL will also be a focal point for collaboration with partners in the region, including Stony Brook University, the Brookhaven National Laboratory and Northwell Health, in both lab-based and clinical research. CSHL is already making progress in moving its fundamental biology research into the clinic, and the CTR will speed efforts already under way in breast cancer, leukemia, autism, obesity/diabetes, and lung cancer therapeutics.
Written by: Dagnia Zeidlickis, Vice President, Communications | zeidlick@cshl.edu | 516-367-8455