Director's Message
Recent Successes and Managing Expectations
The UB Office of Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach (STOR) has had several recent successes. Three UB technologies have received funding from the New York State Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research to develop products. These include Buffalo BioBlower Technologies, a UB start-up which is developing a device that can eradicate spores of virulent organisms such as B. anthrax in the air stream; Reichert, a local company, which is developing a microfluidic UB technology developed by Dr. Fred Sachs, which tests live cells for responses to stimulus by using electrical resistance to measure changes in cell volume; and Kinex, a UB start-up company that has licensed a series of drugs with the promise for treating cancer.
Research
NYSTAR, Reichert Fund Work to Develop Microfluidic Detector
Researchers at the University at Buffalo have developed a microfluidic device that rapidly tests live cells for responses to any stimulus by using electrical resistance to measure changes in cell volume. The device can measure the volume of organelles, vesicles and any other insulating objects such as the latex beads used in various biochemical assays. The chip has numerous potential applications, including the detection of drug/cell interactions, bacterial sensitivity to antibiotics and cancer cell susceptibility to chemotherapeutic agents.
Agent Protects Parkinson's Neurons from Rotenone Toxicity
Researchers at the University at Buffalo affiliated with the New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences have identified a novel agent that can protect neurons involved in Parkinson's disease from being destroyed by the pesticide rotenone.
Magnetic Field Acts as "Remote Control" to Deliver Nanomedicine
A nanoparticle-based drug delivery concept in which an applied magnetic field directs the accumulation in tumor cells of custom-designed, drug-filled nanocarriers has been demonstrated by University at Buffalo researchers.
UB Scientist Publishes First Human Microbiome Analysis
Researchers have completed the first analysis of the genes of a community of human microbes, an accomplishment that has far-reaching implications for clinical diagnosis and treatment of many human diseases.
Commercialization
UB Technology Incubator Welcomes New Companies
Construction on Sweet Home Road isn't the only thing being talked about these days at the University at Buffalo Technology Incubator at Baird Research Park. The facility, located on Sweet Home, has welcomed four new companies into its program. Newton LED, an innovative signage company, and Oncology Research Therapeutics, Inc., life-sciences company that specializes in offering cancer-based diagnostics to physicians, joined 23 other associate companies in calling the Incubator "home". Additionally, BioHammer and VertaSource are taking advantage of the Incubatorrsquos resources as affiliates of the program.
Out of the Lab and into the Marketplace
With the opening of UB's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, UB has created a flashpoint for innovation and research in downtown Buffalo. But it is the business-support services UB provides its researchers and their scientific breakthroughs through the Office of Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach (STOR) that will create the start-up businesses that establish the city as a center for the biotechnology and life sciences industries, according to Robert Genco, vice provost and director of STOR.
Team Developing R&D Software Wins Panasci TEC Competition
Providing products and services to biotechnology firms was the common denominator for the two teams that won more than $60,000 in cash and services in the University at Buffalo's annual Henry A. Panasci Jr. Technology Entrepreneurship Competition (Panasci TEC). Panasci TEC awards seed money and business services to the teams that present the best plan for launch of a viable new business.
New York Times: UB's Center for Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences Spurs Buffalo Biotech Industry
An article in the July 9, 2006 Sunday edition of the New York Times describes how UB's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences is helping to create a new biotech industry in Buffalo. Featured in the article are Bruce A. Holm, executive director of the Center of Excellence and UB senior vice provost; Marnie LaVigne, the center's director of business development; and Steven Gill, associate professor of oral biology, who was recruited to the center from The Institute for Genomic Research.
Licensing
High Reversible Hydrogen Storage Capacity with Ultra-Fast Kinetics
This set of inventions describes novel matter (a combination of Lithium Oxide (Li2O)/ Lithium Nitride (Li3N)) and the procedure to employ the same to store (and release) hydrogen. An improved version of the same with LiNH2 pre-added is also presented and described. The objective of these technologies is to capture and use hydrogen as an energy source in fuel cells. The current focus of this technology is on fuel cells for vehicles although there is the intention and potential to adapt and re-engineer this to suit other applications (energy generation, industrial uses, etc).
Marine-Derived Pharmaceuticals: A Synthetic Method Enabling thier Development
Marine-derived bioactive compounds hold great promise as therapeutics in the treatment of human disease. One particular family of marine-derived diterpene compounds has demonstrated anti-cancer, anti-tubercular and anti-inflammatory activities. However, the complete evaluation of such compounds and the development of new medications derived from them have been restricted by limited supplies, low yields and inefficient methods for synthesis. Using a patented chiral catalyst, a method has been developed which not only allows for ready and practical access to sufficient quantities of these naturally occurring compounds but also enables the development of novel analogs that can be manipulated for specific pharmaceutical properties. Further, this method appears to be amenable to economic, industrial-scale synthesis, making it an ideal choice for pharmaceutical companies looking to develop new anti-cancer, anti-tubercular or anti-inflammatory agents.
Organ Transplant Diagnostic Screen for Chronic Tissue Rejection
At the end of 2003 there were almost 160,000 people living in the United States with transplanted organs. There are an additional 25,000 organ transplants each year in the U.S., with a growing number still on the waiting list to receive an organ. In the six months following a transplant, a patient undergoes at least four biopsies, with subsequent biopsies at regular intervals for the remainder of their lives. These diagnostic procedures are designed for detection of life-threatening organ rejection. However, this microscopic diagnosis is imperfect in that it relies on non-specific changes in the organ, therefore the diagnosis is subjective and not definitive. Based on the recent discovery of tertiary lymphoid organs in tissue undergoing rejection, a less invasive diagnostic test has been developed to more objectively confirm transplants undergoing chronic rejection.
Events
UNYTECH Holds 4th Annual Venture Forum
Eleven colleges and universities throughout upstate New York have joined together to host UNYTECH06, the fourth annual venture forum. The event which connects university-based start-up companies with potential investors that can help grow their business will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 19 and Wednesday, Sept. 20, 2006 in Rochester, NY.
STOR Attends Biotechnology Conference
Biotechnology Industry Organization's annual conference, BIO2006, was one of the world's largest gatherings of biotechnology leaders in the world, attracting approximately 18,000 life sciences professionals, and UB STOR was there. STOR partnered with the Research Foundation of the State University of New York (SUNY) and the Buffalo-Niagara region to showcase the Universityrsquos research and innovative discoveries in the field of biotechnology.
STOR Sponsors National Venture Fund Conference
The University at Buffalo Office of Science, Technology Transfer and Economic Outreach is a proud sponsor of the 13th Annual Conference of the National Association of Seed and Venture Funds (NASVF), a premier network of private, public and nonprofit organizations dedicated to growing their local economies by investing and facilitating investment in local entrepreneurs.
UB's Center of Excellence and Roswell Park Cancer Institute Center for Genetics and Pharmacology Celebrate Grand Opening
Creation of a life-sciences industry and economy for Buffalo Niagara took an historic step forward today with the grand opening of the University at Buffalo's New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences and the Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) Center for Genetics and Pharmacology.
