$35 Million State Grant Advances Medical School’s Move Downtown

The NYSUNY 2020 grant—along with NYSUNY 2020 legislation passed in June—also allows the university to advance plans to hire new faculty and expand academic offerings and facilities.

“This funding will have a historic impact on our university—one that will transform the depth and scope of UB’s academic and research enterprise while significantly expanding our role in improving the quality of life in Western New York,” said UB President Satish K. Tripathi.

UB will use the Challenge Grant and funds from the NYSUNY 2020 legislation to:

• move ahead with the first phase of a $375 million plan to relocate the medical school to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus
• hire 300 new faculty in strategic areas to increase the university’s research output and the economic impact of that research
  
• replace 300 faculty who will leave over the next five years with 400, strengthening programs in all disciplines
  
• improve academic support facilities to provide state-of-the-art educational and research environments

“Imagine what our community will look like when we realize this next phase of UB 2020,” Tripathi said.

“Buffalo will be a destination for world-class health care and research, new businesses will be created through innovative research-industry partnerships, thousands of new jobs will be created for our region’s people and we will attract more of the world’s best faculty and bright students into our region.”

In January 2012, UB officials will start contracting for a new medical school design. They expect site selection to be completed in spring and building designs finalized in April 2013.

Medical school construction should begin in September 2013 and end in the fall of 2016.

With the move to the medical campus, the medical school will join other UB entities, including:

• the UB Clinical and Translational Science Institute (under construction)
  
• the New York State Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics and Life Sciences
• the new UB Downtown Gateway
• the Educational Opportunity Center (under construction)
  

UB’s Challenge Grant adds to Cuomo’s other efforts to revitalize Western New York’s economy, Tripathi noted.

Last week, Cuomo announced $100.3 million in funding for an economic development plan produced by the Western New York Regional Economic Council, co-chaired by Tripathi and Buffalo businessman Howard Zemsky.

Nearly 10 percent of the money will aid research institutions on the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, including the Jacobs Neurological Institute, Roswell Park Comprehensive Cancer Center and the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute.

“We are very thankful to Governor Cuomo, SUNY Chancellor Nancy Zimpher and the state legislature for their continued support over the past year,” Tripathi said.

Zimpher praised Cuomo’s “vision and leadership for a stronger New York and a more competitive public university system.”

“By ensuring affordability, by hiring new faculty and increasing access, and by moving the medical school downtown and creating nearly 3,000 health care and construction jobs for Western New York, the University at Buffalo’s NYSUNY 2020 plan promises to better serve students and positively impact both the local and state economies,” she said.

“This is truly a proud day for the University at Buffalo, for SUNY and for all of New York State.”