UB Slates Grand Opening For Toshiba Stroke Research Center

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- The Toshiba Stroke Research Center at the University at Buffalo, one of the most advanced neuroimaging facilities in the world, will be showcased at grand opening ceremonies at 10:30 a.m. on Wednesday, May 28, on UB's South (Main Street) Campus.

Special guests for the event will be Hironobu Yoshida, chief of technology for Toshiba Japan; Masamichi Katsurada, president of Toshiba America Medical Systems; Yukoi Sakai, director of product support for Toshiba America Medical Systems, and John Zimmer, vice president for marketing.

Charles Gargano, commissioner of the New York State Department of Economic Development, will be present representing Gov. George Pataki.

The center was made possible by a $3.6 million gift from Toshiba, with additional grants from The Margaret L. Wendt Foundation and an anonymous donor.

The ceremonies will begin with remarks from UB and Toshiba officials and the unveiling of a commemorative plaque in the Lippschutz Conference Room of the Biomedical Education Building, followed by a reception in the building's atrium. Guided tours of the facility, housed on the fourth floor of the adjacent Biomedical Research Building, also will be offered.

Toshiba provided the most advanced equipment extant to outfit two surgical suites, where researchers will develop and perfect new, minimally invasive, neurovascular-surgery techniques using ultra-high-tech, image-guidance technology. The company also is providing funding for graduate-student stipends and an exchange program between Japanese and UB researchers.

L. Nelson Hopkins, M.D., a pioneer in the area of endovascular surgery and chair of UB's Department of Neurosurgery, said the center is unmatched in the world in technology and sophistication. Hopkins was instrumental in developing the new partnership with Toshiba and will be director of the new center.

Successful new surgical techniques developed at the Toshiba Stroke Research Center will be transferable directly to treatment and prevention of stroke in humans, the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. and the number-one cause of adult disability.

Stroke researchers at the center will concentrate primarily, but not exclusively, on developing and perfecting noninvasive endovascular surgical procedures. This approach involves accessing blood clots and aneurysms in the brain through the blood vessels, rather than by opening up the skull.

Hopkins is one of the foremost experts in endovascular surgery in the world and was a lead researcher in clinical trials of the Guglielmi Detachable Coil, the first product to receive FDA approval for treating patients with intracranial aneurysms considered inoperable or very-high-risk for traditional surgery.

"Minimally invasive procedures will dominate surgery in the 21st century," Hopkins stated. "Tomorrow's neurovascular technology will be developed, tested and perfected here. We know of no other research center with comparable equipment and capabilities."

Several UB clinical departments and basic-science disciplines will collaborate in the stroke research. Major collaborators have formed the Neurovascular Research Affinity Group, involving the departments of Neurosurgery, Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Radiation, Physics and Computer Science. Other researchers will come from surface science, clinical engineering and neurology.

The facility also will be used by researchers developing new treatments for conditions other than stroke, and will be an educational center for students from UB and around the globe.

"We will pursue investigations in neuroangiography and endovascular therapy for stroke, image optimization with radiation-dose reduction, flow analysis and device development," Hopkins said. "Further, since any area of the body can be accessed through the vascular system, other departments, such as Cardiology, Surgery and Radiology, will have the option of conducting studies using the Toshiba angiographic equipment."

Hopkins said the educational potential of the facility is virtually limitless.

"We currently offer working courses in endovascular techniques for treatment of experimental aneurysms. The Toshiba Stroke Research Center will enable us to expand and diversify our offerings, attracting course participants from around the globe. The flow of personnel and information between the center and Asia, other international research centers and across the U.S. will offer unique educational opportunities to UB students and faculty and the Western New York research community at large."