Cornell and the Business Council of New York State will host a two-day conference, May 17 and 18, to bring together state business, government and academic leaders to discuss the potential for statewide economic development in the scientific field of genomics.
A highlight of the meeting will be opening remarks by Dr. Russell Bessette, executive director of the New York Office of Science, Technology and Academic Research (NYSTAR), a government agency created last year by "Jobs 2000" legislation. Bessette will discuss NYSTAR's role in helping the state promote economic development through the encouragement of scientific and commercial collaboration.
The second day of the conference will begin with a proposal by Steven Tanksley, Cornell professor of plant breeding, to establish a genomics research corridor across the state. A highlight of the first day will be the presentation of a commissioned study on the impact of genomics on the state economy by consulting economist Pearl Kamer.
The conference, titled "The Genomics Revolution: Implications for New York State," will be held at the Holiday Inn Saratoga, Saratoga Springs, starting at noon on May 17 and at 9 a.m. on May 18. The meeting is not open to the public.
Leaders at Cornell and the Business Council believe that the pace of economic development based on this new scientific field needs to accelerate across the state. The meeting will attempt to focus government and business leaders on the statewide potential for jobs and economic development through genomics. The Business Council is the largest organization representing the business community in New York state.
Government leaders know the word "genomics," but perhaps few understand its full potential, said Kraig Adler, Cornell vice provost for life sciences. "We are going to attempt to define the topic, then talk about its exciting applications in agriculture, medicine, the environment, pharmaceuticals and engineering," he said.
Genomics, which is recognized as a new scientific discipline in its own right, often is defined as investigations into the structure and function of very large numbers of genes. The generally held view is that genomics will be the single most rewarding approach to the acquisition of new information in basic and applied biology in coming decades. As a result, the private sector is investing in new approaches for drug discovery, research into how cancers form, in new approaches to the genetic engineering of plants for disease resistance and improved nutrient content.
Among those invited to speak at the conference are Sheldon Silver, speaker of the New York State Assembly; Caroline A. Kovac, vice president, life science solutions at IBM Corp.; Paul Schnipelsky, vice president for research, clinical laboratory research and development at Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics Inc. division of Johnson & Johnson Co.; Mark Dibner, president of the National Institute of Biotechnology Information, Research Triangle Park, Raleigh-Durham, N.C.; and Dr. David Hohn, president and chief executive of Roswell Park Cancer Institute.
"The major goal of the conference is to inform state leaders and the public of the exciting developments taking place in this field, to build more effective partnerships between New York's leading research institutions and the business sector and to identify both the existing impediments to and incentives for rapid commercialization of the genomics industry in New York state," said Adler.
The conference leaders will suggest that while present investment in genomics companies is heavily concentrated in compact geographical areas, such as the San Francisco Bay area, metropolitan Boston and Research Triangle Park, New York has great potential to become a major location as well. With such companies as Corning Inc. and Kodak Co. tied to leading research institutions such as Cornell, SUNY-Albany, SUNY-Buffalo and Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, New York is well placed to compete with other areas of the nation for investment capital.
The conference is being funded in part by a state grant awarded to Cornell last year. It is hoped that the proposals emerging from the conference will be of planning assistance to state government and will be an indication to the business community of the implications for growth that genomics will have in coming years.
Why is Cornell advocating these programs? Said Adler, "As the land grant university of New York, it is our responsibility to do all that we can to contribute to the expansion of the New York economy on a statewide basis."
For more information, contact Adler at 254-4392, vprovost-lifesci@cornell.edu.
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