Work already under way in numerous departments and research centers at UB would form the basis of a new high-technology "Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics" proposed by Gov. George E. Pataki as a vehicle to create jobs and jump-start the Western New York economy.

The center would be one of three across the state suggested by Pataki in his 2001 "State of the State" address as part of an ambitious $1 billion high-technology and biotechnology plan in which New York State would become a worldwide leader in university-based research, job creation and job development.

The three centers-the other two would be located in Albany for nanoelectronics and Rochester for photonics and optoelectronics-would link university researchers directly with private industry. Pataki envisions other centers eventually being located on Long Island and in New York City.

The governor's plan would use $283 million in state funds over the next five years to leverage more than $700 million in federal, university and private funds to spur high-tech and biotech job growth through these centers of excellence and other initiatives.

UB administrators said they expect more information on the "Centers of Excellence" plan to be included in the governor's 2001-02 budget, which was released on Tuesday. Details were unavailable to the Reporter at presstime.

"This will be the largest high-tech economic development initiative in our State's history," Pataki said of the "Centers of Excellence" plan during his State of the State address. "The result will be an explosion of innovation that will create thousands of jobs. Good jobs. High paying jobs. Jobs for the next generation of New Yorkers.

"Our universities are better prepared now than ever before to help lead the way into the high-tech economy of the new century. Now is the time to take the next step to bridge the gap between academia and the new economy."

SUNY Chancellor Robert L. King praised Pataki's plan, calling it "an investment that will assure New York's economic future."

The Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics at Buffalo would create academic and industrial partnerships between UB, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute and such local companies as Praxair, Advanced Refractory Technologies (ART), Ethicon, Veridian and Life Technologies. Among the UB units expected to participate in the center would be the New York State Center for Engineering Design and Industrial Innovation; the Center for Computational Research; the schools of medicine, pharmacy and engineering; the Department of Computer Science and Engineering; the structural biology program; the DNA Microarray Facility-located at Roswell but jointly operated by Roswell and UB-and the Center for Drug Discovery and Experimental Therapeutics.