CAPABILITIES & TECHNOLOGIES
The CoE has a breadth of life sciences capabilities and technologies with some of the highlights detailed below.
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The Microarray and Genomics Facility at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, home of the researchers who provided BAC libraries for sequencing the human genome, affords investigators a full spectrum of services for parallel analyses of genomes and their expression. Applications of this technology include large scale SNP genotyping (Sequenom MassARRAY), BAC array based Comparative Genomic Hybridization (aCGH), and global gene expression profiling (CodeLink and cDNA arrays). Variations of these applications can be utilized to: detect and map chromosomal aberrations and SNPs, profile gene expression patterns, identify differences between two populations of DNA or RNA (ie. tumor vs normal, transfected vs. untransfected cell populations), determine the effect of therapeutic agents on the genome and their effect on gene expression, and determine the effect of genetic alterations on gene expression patterns in transgenic and knockout mice. The facility also maintains and provides a screening and clone characterization service for fifteen large insert genomic BAC/PAC libraries for human, mouse, rat, and S. Pombe. In addition, investigators with high throughput projects are supported by the robotics infrastructure within the facility.
The Center for Computational Research (CCR) is a leading academic supercomputing facility that maintains a high-performance computing environment, high-end visualization laboratories, and support staff with expertise in scientific computing, software engineering, visualization, advanced database design, and networking. The mission of CCR is to (1) enable research and scholarship, (2) provide education, outreach, and training, and (3) effect technology transfer and economic development in areas that require high-end computing, storage, networking, and visualization. The Center’s extensive computing facilities include a 2000 processor Dell P4 (64-bit) Linux cluster, and a 64 processor shared memory SGI Altix. The Center also maintains a 25 Tbyte EMC SAN. The computer visualization laboratory features a tiled display wall, a VisDuo passive stereo system, and an SGI Onyx3 Infinite Reality4 graphics computer. Based on aggregate compute capacity, CCR is one of the most powerful academic supercomputing sites in the U.S., with more than 13 Tflops of peak performance.
Toshiba Stroke Research Center conducts research related to the prevention and treatment of vascular disease through minimally invasive modalities, under the leadership of world renowned neurosurgeons and scientists. The Center has the most advanced equipment to develop new endovascular surgery techniques. Through its clinical facilities, innovations emerging from the center are quickly translated into clinical practice.
The Jacobs Neurological Institute (JNI) , founded upon the work of the inventor of beta-interferon therapy for multiple sclerosis, is a preeminent team of neurologists and other health care providers caring for patients with neurological disorders. The mission of JNI is to lessen the burden of neurological disease through the three pronged strategy of focused research, development of advanced patient-centered care programs and principal-centered teaching. The Jacobs Neurological Institute is synonymous with the Department of Neurology at SUNY Buffalo. The JNI has activities at five hospitals, both campuses of the University at Buffalo and 2 outpatient centers in Buffalo, New York. Over 25,000 patients per year from all over the world are treated at the JNI’s multiple clinical sites. Furthermore, more than 100 medical students, neurology residents, and neurology fellows are trained here each year to be experts in compassionate clinical care and evidence-based medicine in the treatment of neurological diseases.
Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI), founded in 1898, is the nation's first cancer research, treatment and education center and is the only National Cancer Institute designated comprehensive care center in Upstate New York. From its inception, RPCI's mission has been cancer research and treatment. Since then, groundbreaking research by RPCI scientists has led to greater understanding of the nature of cancer and to major advances in cancer diagnosis and treatment that are now in use worldwide. RPCI instituted the nation's first chemotherapy program, pioneered studies on the relationship between smoking and lung cancer and developed photodynamic therapy (PDT) and the prostate-specific antigen (PSA) blood test. A comprehensive cancer genetics program, now under development at RPCI, will rival the world's leading programs in that field. The Institute also made significant contributions to the landmark human genome project. RPCI's Center for Pharmacology and Therapeutics is one of the few centers in the nation capable of all phases of drug development, from the conceptual stage through manufacturing and testing. In 2004, RPCI's strong basic and clinical research programs attracted major research grants and contracts totaling more than $75 million. The Institute has sponsored or collaborated on more than 350 clinical trials of promising new cancer treatments. As a CoE research partner, the Roswell Park Center for Pharmacology and Genetics is co-located in the Buffalo Life Sciences Complex.
An ontology is a computational representation of the types of entities and relations existing within a given domain of reality. Increasingly, ontologies such as the Gene Ontology are being used to support exchange and reuse of data and information in all domains of biomedical informatics. The University at Buffalo is a world leader in ontology research and is home to the National Center for Ontological Research and to the Ontology Best Practices core of the National Center for Biomedical Ontology. The COE's Ontology Research Group (ORG) is engaged in fundamental and applied research and software development in the domain of biomedical ontology, with a special focus on electronic health records and the management of clinical data.
The Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute (HWI) is an independent, non-profit, biomedical research partner of the CoE. For almost half a century, HWI scientists have been committed to improving human health through study, at a molecular level, of the causes and potential cures of many diseases. In contrast to clinical research, the focus of HWI’s basic research is to determine the structures of individual substances such as proteins that play a role in the development of specific diseases. This research explores questions, such as: What is the three-dimensional shape of a particular protein molecule? What structural alterations lead to the development of disease? Working under the leadership of Nobel-Laureate Herbert Hauptman, HWI scientists use the techniques of molecular biology, biochemistry, and crystallography to answer these questions. The results of their investigations provide the starting point for better drug design. In addition, other research on-going at HWI seeks to improve the methods of crystallization and data analysis used for molecular structure determination by scientists worldwide.
News
Study Describes Mechanism Linking Alcohol with Risk of Breast Cancer
04/30/2008 - BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The known association of alcohol consumption with an increased risk of breast cancer has been linked by researchers at the University at Buffalo to a process that causes genes that promote normal cell growth to produce proteins that precipitate unregulated cell growth, an action known as hypermethylation...[Read On...]
Common Plant Component Shows Potential as MS Treatment
04/17/2008 - BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Plant sterols, known to help reduce high cholesterol, also may be effective in treating the effects of multiple sclerosis (MS), novel research by University at Buffalo investigators has shown. The study, lead by Forum M. Desai, a student in the UB Department of Exercise and Nutrition Sciences, has shown that Beta-sitosterol, a compound found in most vegetables and fruits, can reduce secretion of several proinflammatory factors known to be involved in damage to the brain's myelin...[Read On...]
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Events
May 6 - Dr. Austin Clean Room Program
Don’t miss the opportunity to hear one of the world’s foremost Cleanroom and Contamination Control Experts. Dr. Austin has published six textbooks on clean rooms and personally authored each of the clean room standards adopted by ISO. This program will take place from 2-6pm Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Center for Genetics & Pharmacology, Zebro Room, 701 Ellicott Street, Buffalo, NY. Register at www.thepartnership.org/events. See flyer for more information. 
May 8 – HWI Seminar Series
Please join Dr. Michael Rossman from Purdue University for a presentation on “Symmetry and asymmetry in the control of viral assembly, maturation and infection”. Program begins at 2:30pm with a reception to follow. Series is held at the Hauptman-Woodward Institute 700 Ellicott Street, Buffalo, NY 14203.
To view the complete list of events and event details, please visit our Events page
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