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HOUSE OKS $3 MILLION FOR HIGH-TECH CENTER
Published on November 30, 2001
Author: DOUGLAS TURNER - News Washington Bureau Chief
© The Buffalo News Inc.
Funds for a major high-tech project at the University at Buffalo cleared the House on Thursday, but could face a hurdle in the Senate as Congress winds down in the next two weeks.
Rep. Tom Reynolds, R-Clarence, announced the House had approved an appropriation of $3 million for the proposed Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics at UB. UB President William R. Greiner called the House action "good news" for Buffalo and the regional economy. Greiner said the $3 million will be important seed money for a program that could put Buffalo in the front ranks of the nation in such programs as human genome mapping. The money was contained in the House-passed defense appropriations bill. Efforts are being made to include the funds in the Senate version. However, Senate sources said passage this year is not a sure thing. Before the Senate goes home, it could enact the House version or include the $3 million for UB in a conference report. Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., said the project is important "for Buffalo and for the entire country. I will do everything I can to fight for this request in the final bill." Money for a bioinformatics center was at the top of the region's list when County Executive Joel A. Giambra and Buffalo Mayor Anthony M. Masiello met here two weeks ago with Clinton, Sen. Charles E. Schumer, D-N.Y., and members of the House delegation. Commenting on Reynolds' announcement, Masiello said the project "begins a change in the face of the Buffalo economy." Long term, Masiello said, he and Giambra are seeking $25 million in federal funds for the project. This, Masiello said, will be matched with state money and with funds from private industry for sponsored research. The proposed center, he said, "will bring in a lot of high-tech, high-paying positions and create tremendous spinoff." Bruce L. Fisher, Giambra's chief of staff, said the program contains a wide range of potential applications, including some for the National Aeronautics & Space Administration and the National Institutes of Health. It will help integrate UB's research, Fisher said, with that of the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, "which is the closest thing Buffalo has to a permanent research powerhouse." The Hauptman center, led by Buffalo's only Nobel Prize winner, Herbert A. Hauptman, has been studying the genome for years. Reynolds said, "Since researchers began mapping the human genome, the science of bioinformatics has come center stage, and UB is well-positioned to become a national leader in this emerging field." The university's supercomputer center makes the campus the logical place for this research, Reynolds said. Rep. John J. LaFalce, D-Town of Tonawanda, who joined Reynolds in making the appropriations request, said another local partner in the project will be Roswell Park Cancer Institute. Local private partnerships with Praxair, Advanced Refactory Technologies, Ethicon, Verdian and Life Technologies are envisioned. LaFalce said the bioinformatics center would engage in molecular testing, speeding up drug testing. e-mail: dturner@buffnews.com<
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