Local Foundation Grant Supports UB School Of Pharmacy

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- In a show of local support and to help the university secure national dollars, the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo has given a $49,500 grant to the UB School of Pharmacy and its Center for Drug Discovery and Experimental Therapeutics.

The grant will be used to buy a Gene Tac Hybridization Station and accessories as part of an ongoing cooperative effort involving the School of Pharmacy, the UB School of Medicine and Biomedical Sciences and Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

Wayne K. Anderson, Ph.D., dean of the School of Pharmacy, said the timing of the grant is particularly important, "since it allows us to buy an important piece of equipment that fits into our mosaic of instruments targeting new drug discoveries."

Anderson added: "It also demonstrates strong local support for our efforts and should help us obtain national funding through the Kresge Foundation."

Gail Johnstone, executive director of the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, said the foundation is proud to support projects that bring both research dollars and prestige to Western New York.

"The Gene Tac Hybridization Station equipment should benefit a broad range of researchers and clinicians, both in the community and at the university," Johnstone said. "It will foster scientific/clinical collaborations and leverage Western New York's participation in nationally funded drug-development programs."

UB has a science initiative proposal for $500,000 currently pending with the Kresge Foundation, which requires matching funds for its challenge grants. UB has raised $506,000 so far, including this grant from the Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, another from the National Institutes of Health and additional money raised from other foundations, corporations and individuals.

Anderson explained: "The federally funded Human Genome Project has provided us with a roadmap of genes; now we in pharmaceutical sciences want to use that information and proceed with identifying the function of a gene."

The Gene Tac Hybridization Station will help with that process by scanning thousands of genes simultaneously and generating information that can be used to predict drug responses in individual patients. For example, it could lead to a process that would allow researchers to scan tumor genes and identify key genetic markers that would enable physicians to optimize cancer therapy for the individual patient.

The Gene Tac unit is part of a state-of-the-art instrument core that is being developed as part of the newly created Center for Drug Discovery and Experimental Therapeutics (CDDET). The CDDET is a multidisciplinary center dedicated to research, educational programs and collaborative projects in the pharmaceutical sciences. It will focus on emerging new technologies and cutting-edge research on a range of important topics, including cancer drugs, organ transplantation and anti-rejection drugs, and autoimmune diseases.

The Community Foundation for Greater Buffalo, one of the oldest community foundations in the nation, is dedicated to improving life in Western New York by supporting charitable programs that serve the region.

For information about how you can help support the University at Buffalo, go to http://www.buffalo.edu/giving.