School of Medicine and BioMedical ScienceS

Putting discovery to workclinical and TranSlaTional reSearch cenTer

clinical and translational researchPutting discovery to work

new building for a new model of clinical researchLabs and beds on the same medical campus

this is an era of amazing advances in biomedical

science, especially in molecular biology and genomics.

cloning and genome sequencing are spectacular

recent examples.

but advances in clinical care have not kept pace with

the rate of basic science breakthroughs. some of the

gap is inherent in the process of science. some is the

result of unrealized potential in the way we conduct

the work that turns discoveries into new medical

tests, treatments and cures.

no matter how long the climb, discovery is a moment,

like cresting a hill. in medicine, developing the

explorer’s discovery into clinical uses is necessarily

slower, more like settling new territory. the basic

scientist pursues hypotheses that lead, one after

another, to new knowledge. clinical and translational

scientists are concerned with the complexities of

living systems, with patients in clinical trials, with

scale. that will always be so.

nonetheless, the work of the clinical and translational

sciences can be made more productive. in an effort

to narrow the gap between discovery and cure, the

national institutes of health has made clinical and

translational sciences a national priority.

if you set out to create an ideal setting for clinical and translational science, you would build the clinical and translational research center (ctrc). and you would put it right where it is.

the ctrc is a four-story, 170,000- square-foot research building sitting atop a clinical care building. the clinical facility below contains the cardiac, vascular and neurosurgery suites of the gates vascular institute of kaleida health, and, on the ground level, the new emergency department of buffalo general medical center.

now, ub physician-scientists with labs in the ctrc are just steps away from their clinical practice.

the two buildings-within-a-building are the unique product of an innovative partnership between the medical school and kaleida health, western new york’s largest health care provider. although

they share infrastructure and the exterior that contains them, they were designed separately, each for its own demanding purposes; they were funded separately (for a total of $290 million to build); they were built by different construction firms.

but they are made functionally one space by the physician-scientists who will practice in one part and do their research in the other.

beyond its walls, the ctrc is equally well situated. located on the buffalo niagara medical campus, in the middle of buffalo’s emerging academic medi-cal center, the ctrc is connected to the buffalo general medical center, roswell Park cancer institute, and adjacent to the future sites of women and children’s hospital (2015) and the medical school (2016).

the ctrc is the right building in the right place, coming on line at the right time.

“Physician-scientists provide the critical link between basic science and clinical research.” TimoThy F. murphy, mD, DirecTor, clinical anD TranslaTional research cenTer

Progress toward strong translational science has been impeded by several issues, including:

n lack of funds dedicated to moving discoveries toward clinical uses

n the breadth of knowledge required to translate basic science into clinical uses

n specialization in biomedical sciences, which makes it less likely that specialists will see clinically useful connections across specializations

n no natural home for translational sciences among the biomedical specialties

n no training path for preparing a cadre of translational scientists

The University at Buffalo School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences built the Clinical and Translational Research Center and is investing in this kind of research to put discovery to work—to translate the genius of science into interventions that improve health.

That is why we are seeking philanthropic partners to join this effort to influence the future course of medicine.

Eighth floor n toshiba stroke and vascular research center

n research angiography suite

n laboratories and offices for up to six investigative groups

n laboratories and offices of the center for research in cardiovascular medicine, an interdisciplinary research center directed by John m. canty Jr., albert and elizabeth rekate chair in cardiovascular disease, who

has led pioneering studies on the mechanisms involved in sudden cardiac death.

n translational cardiovascular imaging facility including a ge discovery Pet/ct 690 dedicated exclusively for

research purposes, which will advance preclinical and clinical translational molecular imaging.

n lab-animal facility

n conference and collaboration space

sEvEnth floor

n clinical research center. the center coordinates clinical research activities among institutions in the buffalo translational consortium. the center also maintains facilities for examining subjects and collecting samples.

n biorepository

n laboratories and offices for up to 12 investigative groups. these include the timothy murphy group (respiratory infections and vaccine development), the animesh

sinha group (immunological tolerance and autoimmunity) and the kinga szigeti group (alzheimer’s disease)

n conference/collaboration rooms

sixth floor

n conference center and seminar rooms

n atrium café

n conference facilities large enough for national meetings on special topics

n collaboration space

n administrative offices

n ub biosciences incubator

n Jacobs institute, conducting research and development and training in vascular medicine, directed by l. nelson hopkins,

professor and chair of neurosurgery at the school of medicine. this center within the ctrc will focus on innovation in medicine and entrepreneurship in the development of those innovations.

fifth floor

cTrc feaTureSn modern, open-architecture laboratories

and support space for up to 31 principal investigators.

n clinical research center with nine examination rooms.

n biorepository where researchers will store and catalog valuable tissue samples to study a wide variety of disease conditions. the biorepository is supported by the university’s world-class informatics resources.

n state-of the-art research imaging facilities including magnetic resonance imaging, computing tomography and positron emission tomography.

n ub biosciences incubator, aiding ub researchers in the creation of medical products and businesses spun off from ub faculty research.

n administrative offices for the buffalo translational consortium, the office of clinical and translational research training, and the office of ub community engagement.

the clinical and translational research center is more than its laboratories and meeting places: it is a hub for the clinical and translational research programs of the institutions that comprise the buffalo translational consortium.

created during the planning for the ctrc, the consortium includes the five ub health sciences schools, kaleida health, erie county medical center, roswell Park cancer institute, the medical school’s faculty practice group, and other leading buffalo medical research institutes and centers.

consortium members are national leaders in biomedical informatics and ontology, behavioral health research, cancer research, community-based research, research in cardiovascular disease and pharmaceutical sciences.

the clinical research center in the ctrc will assist consortium researchers with technical issues ranging from research design consultation to regulatory support. the clinical research center will further support ctrc researchers with expertise in human research, including conducting clinical trials, study design and planning, recruitment of participants, conducting study visits, retaining participants in studies and assessing study outcomes.

by sharing expertise, the consortium research community will bridge gaps between disciplines of biomedical science and the healing interventions of clinical medicine.

research connections More than laboratories

buffalo ctrc The opportunity and the challenge

like the university at buffalo, the ctrc is ideally positioned to realize the benefits of the public-private funding partnerships for major research and education initiatives.

even before the first researchers moved in, the ctrc was already attracting top physician- scientists to the medical school’s faculty. John e. tomaszewski, for example, who was president of the american society of clinical Pathology and interim chair of the department of Pathology and laboratory medicine at the university of Pennsylvania, joined the ub medical school faculty in 2011 as chair of the department of Pathology and anatomical sciences because, he said, the combination of the biorepository facility in the ctrc

and ub’s computational infrastructure offered an unparalleled opportunity to further his work.

the completed, fully equipped ctrc represents a $150 million commitment from all sources. new york state has already invested approximately $125 million in building and equipping of the center. the university’s medical science schools and its public- and private-sector partners in the buffalo translational consortium have committed to coordinating their clinical and translational research programs.

Private support for the CTRC—eventually providing $25 million—will make the center the leading producer of translational outcomes it is designed to be.

beginning in 2005, the administration and faculty of the university at buffalo developed a strategic plan— eventually called ub 2020—to accelerate ub’s rise in prominence as a national research university and center for graduate and professional education.

academic excellence is ub 2020’s guiding principle. everything in the strategic plan—from the configuration of the university’s three campuses to strategic investment in certain of its schools and research areas to the size of the faculty—promotes excellence in education and in research.

the centerpiece of ub 2020 is the university’s bold decision to build a new, larger medical school in downtown buffalo adjacent to the buffalo general medical center, roswell Park cancer institute and a new women and children’s hospital. the clinical and translational

Produced by the office of university communications, division of university life and Services, university at Buffalo. august 2012. 12-dVc-033.

a new medical camPus for a new century Unlimited possibilities

research center is a key component of the new medical school campus.

construction begins in 2013. the new medical school will open its doors in fall 2016 to a new era of medical education, health care and biomedical research in buffalo.

School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciencesoffice of development901 Kimball TowerBuffalo, nY 14214

716-829-2773

www.giving.buffalo.edu/medicine