ALBANY, N.Y. (June 7, 2007) -- The New York Biotechnology Association (NYBA) announced today that it has opened an office in Albany, expanding the trade association's state-wide presence which currently includes offices in New York City and Stony Brook, Long Island. The office, housed in the Center for Functional Genomics (CFG) at the University at Albany's East Campus, will be a local contact point for NYBA's public policy initiatives, will serve as a center of outreach for NYBA throughout central New York State, and will help develop the Capital Region's growing biotechnology community.
"NYBA is working to establish local points-of-contact throughout New York State in order that we better serve and support New York's vital biotech industry," said Nathan Tinker, Executive Director of NYBA. "In this, The University at Albany is a great partner for us because it is a leader in both bioscience research and commercialization, and is a true practitioner of NYBA's motto, The Cures Start Here. We are very appreciative to the University and the Center for Functional Genomics for their willingness to serve as NYBA's local home in the Capital Region and look forward to building a long-lasting relationship."
"With abundant room for growth and an on-site mix of more than a dozen biotech companies and hundreds of bioscience researchers, the East Campus is a microcosm of the biotech sector as a whole," said Paulette McCormick, CFG Director and Professor of Biomedical Sciences at the University at Albany. "Having NYBA on the East Campus leverages these assets and places the CFG right in the center of the State's vibrant biotech community - a place we need to be so we can do our job of ensuring that every bioscience researcher and company in the State has access to the high-end instruments and expertise they need to perform their research."
The move further cements the biotechnology industry in the Albany area, with major university-based research and development at the University at Albany and other institutions, as well as a growing number of biotech businesses, including AMRI (formerly Albany Molecular Research) and Cytopia.
About New York Biotechnology Association
NYBA is the leading advocate for advancing the success of the biotechnology industry in New York State and is its main representative to policy makers, the media and the communities in which we work. Its mission is to support the development and growth of New York's biotechnology industry, and serve our members and the biotechnology community by providing a network for information exchange, shared services and collective action. NYBA's membership comprises over 250 bioscience companies, world-class research institutions and related professional services. Under the banner of The Cures Start Here�, its goal is to amplify the success New York has had and continues to have in discovering major medical advances and growing a vibrant biotech industry.
About The Center for Functional Genomics
Established in 2000, the Center for Functional Genomics is a fee-for-service basic research laboratory providing services to hundreds of researchers at companies, universities, and government agencies around the world. As a non-profit University core facility supporting UAlbany's Biotechnology Business Incubator & Accelerator and Gen*NY*Sis Center for Excellence in Cancer Genomics, CFG's mission is to provide all the expertise, technologies and cutting-edge resources that bioscience researchers and companies need to obtain robust, reliable results quickly and affordably. The CFG's services include proteomics, mass spectrometry, molecular genetics, transgenics/knock-out mouse production, cell and tissue culture, uv- and laser-capture microdissection, flow cytometry, microarray, and bioinformatics, etc. The CFG also has a strategic alliance with Commonwealth Biotechnologies, Inc. for projects that need to meet FDA requirements for submission of data in support of new drug applications.
