New York Genome Center Announces Roswell Park Cancer Institute as Associate Member

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--

The New York Genome Center (NYGC) and Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) today announced that RPCI, a nationally-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center in Buffalo, NY, is joining the organization as an Associate Member. This unique collaboration is designed to accelerate the clinical applications for genome sequencing in oncology.

We are thrilled by Roswell Park Cancer Institutes decision to join the NYGC collaboration, said Robert B. Darnell, President and Scientific Director of NYGC. Its unique, specialized focus on cancer research, prevention and treatment will contribute significantly toward our knowledge of disease, furthering our mission of achieving personalized medicine.

RPCI, founded by Dr. Roswell Park in 1898, is Americas first cancer center and is one of only three existing institutions in New York State to hold the National Cancer Institutes comprehensive cancer center designation. As one of the few freestanding comprehensive cancer centers in the US, RPCI has sustained its role as a national and international leader in cancer research, clinical care and education, establishing an exemplary reputation based on the combined strength of its basic and translational research, educational programs, and multidisciplinary and compassionate patient care. It also brings additional resources such as its Genomics Shared Resource, a Pathology Resource Network, Bioinformatics Shared Resource, and Data Bank and BioRepository (DBBR).

The bio banking facility at RPCI will be a tremendous resource to learn about genetic origins and new treatments for cancer patients, and it will expand the possibilities for important large-scale cancer genomic studies conducted at NYGC and with our collaborating member institutions, Darnell said.

The resources RPCI brings include the Institutes priority to understand cancer health disparities within its geographic target and develop appropriate research initiatives around the needs of those populations.

We are enthusiastic about the potential this collaboration brings to our cancer research capabilities and what it will mean for future treatment options, said Donald Trump, MD, President and CEO of Roswell Park Cancer Institute. This partnership enhances our opportunities to extend collaborations with our colleagues throughout New York, including the New York City cancer centers, thus allowing us to bring the latest discoveries in genome science to our work to understand, prevent and cure cancer and other diseases.

In December 2012, NYGC received $1.5 million from New York State as part of the Regional Economic Development Council Initiative (RDC) to assist with construction of its new 170,000 sf facility in Manhattan and to ramp up its staffing in the critical areas of bioinformatics, sequencing, and research computing; and in April 2012, RPCI received $5.1 million from the New York State Economic Development Council to extend its genomic capabilities.

Both NYGC and RPCI have already leveraged their respective investments from the states RDC to forge stronger collaborations between institutions across New York State, enhancing the impact of these investments throughout New York, Darnell said. This partnership will spur development of exciting new research opportunities and clinical breakthroughs that will lead to improvements in the health of all New Yorkers.

About Roswell Park Cancer Institute

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New York Genome Center Announces Roswell Park Cancer Institute as Associate Member