ALBANY, N.Y. (May 17, 2002) -- The University at Albany�s Center for Comparative Functional Genomics (CCFG) has announced the acquisition of a Micromass Q-ToF2 mass spectrometer, the only one of its kind in the Capital Region. The Q-ToF2, according to scientists at CCFG�s home on the University�s East Campus, has numerous applications for research in medicine and biology, and academic and industrial research groups from the Capital Region as well as scientists from the University of Vermont and Pennsylvania State University already have made plans to utilize it.

The $750,000 mass spectrometer, used in protein analysis, is specialized for high through-put identification. Proteins, the basic building blocks of the organism, regulate all body functions, and identification of specific proteins is crucial for understanding the mechanisms behind disease and for developing treatments.

The Q-ToF2 was jointly acquired by Myomatrix Molecular Technologies, a biopharmaceutical company focused on treatments for cardiovascular disease, and CCFG, an interdisciplinary facility for research in genomics, bioinformatics, proteomics, microarray and mouse transgenesis.

The joint acquisition of the mass spectrometer, its shared technology and multidisciplinary use are key components in the co-location model implemented by the University�s East Campus, an innovator in the business incubator paradigm.

The East Campus is home to the University at Albany School of Public Health and new Center for Public Health Preparedness, and major tenants including Albany Molecular Research, Regeneron, Taconic Biotechnology, and the National Institutes of Health funded Mutant Mouse Regional Resource Center, one of only four in the United States. The East Campus, established in 1996 in the abandoned laboratories of the Sterling-Winthrop pharmaceutical plant, this year marks its fifth as a Capital Region leader in biotechnology and biomedical research, academics and entrepreneurship.

Established in 1844 and designated a center of the State University of New York in 1962, the University at Albany's broad mission of excellence in undergraduate and graduate education, research and public service engages 17,000 diverse students in eight degree-granting schools and colleges. For more information about this nationally ranked University, visit https://www.albany.edu.

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