spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer spacer
Non-Flash Home Skip Banner Navigation www.nystar.state.ny.us spacer
NYSTAR® New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation spacer
presshead_r3_c3 spacer
Previous Press Releases Next presshead_r4_c7 spacer
presshead_r5_c3 spacer
headbase spacer

Print-Friendly
Version

Back to
Press Index

 STATE OF NEW YORK
NEW YORK STATE FOUNDATION FOR
SCIENCE, TECHNOLOGY AND INNOVATION
EDWARD REINFURT, ACTING EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR

Press Contact
Jannette Rondo, Director of Public Information
518-292-5700
jrondo@nystar.state.ny.us
www.nystar.state.ny.us

FOR RELEASE:
IMMEDIATE, Thursday
August 23, 2007

NYSTAR ANNOUNCES $3.7 MILLION IN GRANTS TO UNIVERSITIES TO RETAIN FACULTY
New York State Retains Top-Level Researchers

Edward Reinfurt, Acting Executive Director of the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR), today announced that the State is providing over $3.7 million in faculty development awards to three universities in New York State to enable those institutions to retain a select group of world-class scientists to New York State, helping to ensure the continued long-term growth of the State’s high technology industries.

“The awards through the New York State Foundation for Science, Technology and Innovation Faculty Development Program assist universities in the retention of leading research faculty in science and technology fields with strong commercial potential. The funds provide an incentive for a research faculty member to conduct research in a New York State academic institution.” said Acting Executive Director Reinfurt.

NYSTAR has provided over $13.1 million for 29 Faculty Development Program grants between 2000-2005. As a result of this investment, institutions receiving these funds have generated more than $64.7 million in impacts in New York and have resulted in the founding of seven new companies. This equates to a $4.93 return to the State for each dollar invested.

The scientists supported from these funds are expected to develop, define and conduct nationally and internationally-recognized research, act as a focal point for multidisciplinary research, attract additional external funding from Federal, foundation, and other public and private sources and participate in entrepreneurial enterprise that will benefit New York State. The awards were made on the basis of peer-reviewed competitive science and economic development opportunities.

The following institutions were awarded faculty development grants:

  • Columbia University to retain Thomas Diacovo, M.D., Assistant Professor of Pediatrics and Pathology to test potential anticoagulant drugs and non-invasive imaging techniques to locate clots within the body.

  • Cornell University to retain Matthew P. DeLisa, Ph.D., Assistant Professor, School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering to engineer human-like glycosylatin pathways in bacteria.

  • Stony Brook University to retain Clare Grey, D.Phil., Professor, Department of Chemistry to improve fundamental understanding of chemical reactions and develop a new class of battery materials.

  • Cornell University to retain Dan Luo, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering to produce recombinant proteins in an in vitro system called P-gel.

  • Cornell University to retain Johannes Gehrke, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Department of Computer Science to conduct research on data management, data mining and event stream monitoring for scalability and extensibility in massive evolving databases.

    NYSTAR is a government public-benefit corporation that supports collaborative industry/academic partnerships to foster integrated approaches for developing and commercializing innovative technologies.