Since its incorporation in April 1996, VEC TECHNOLOGIES, INC. (VTI) has been located at the East Campus. “We were one of the first tenants,” points out VTI founder and president Jolene L. Clarke.

VTI is a manufacturer of cultured vascular endothelial cells and cell culture support products, which are used in the cultivation of endothelial cells. Explains Clarke: “Vascular endothelial cells line all blood vessels and are therefore strategically placed between the blood and tissues. They have unique functions, and are essential components in a wide variety of biological and pathological phenomena. It is extremely important, therefore, to offer endothelial cells from various species (human, rat, and bovine) and from different anatomic sites ( aorta, pulmonary artery, lung, heart, umbilical vein, umbilical artery, retina), since endothelial cells from different sites have unique properties.”

Endothelial cells “have a pivotal role in a variety of medical disciplines,” Clarke said. “Vascular endothelial cells are important as screening tools in drug development. For example, if you could find a drug (compound) that could stop the development of blood vessels essential for a tumor to grow, you could theoretically starve the tumor and cure cancer.”

Endothelial cells are used to research such areas as angiogenesis, or the growth of new blood vessels that promote the healing of wounds and restore blood flow to injured tissues, but that also, in a worst-case scenario, advance tumor growth. They are also used to study vascular disease, which includes atherosclerosis, commonly known as hardening of the arteries; coronary disease; and stroke.

In addition, researchers find endothelial cells useful for the study of tissue engineering, inflammation, and cellular aging.

Clarke adds: “Much of the recent knowledge about vascular endothelial cells has been obtained by isolating and growing them outside the body (tissue culture). VTI staff have more than 40 years of combined experience in endothelial cell tissue culture.” The firm’s chief scientist, Peter J. Del Vecchio, Ph.D., developed a protocol to isolate some of the first microvascular endothelial cells.

VTI’s clientele includes some of the best-known academic institutions, medical research centers, pharmaceuticals manufacturers, and biotechnology companies in the world. Among them are the National Cancer Institute and the National Eye Institute, which are affiliated with the National Institutes of Health; Pfizer; Johnson & Johnson; Bayer Corporation; Scripps Research Institute; Yale University; Johns Hopkins Medical Center; the Mayo Foundation; the Food and Drug Administration; Memorial Sloan Kettering; and Berlex Biosciences. “VTI is a designated provider of human umbilical vein endothelial cells for the National Cancer Institute. We competed against several other companies, and VTI was one of only two selected to be a provider for NCI grantees,” Clarke says.

Locally, Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and Albany Medical Center use VTI’s cells and support products. “Our international customers,” adds Clarke, “are from England, Ireland, Germany, Japan, and Greece.”

VTI was attracted to the East Campus “for several reasons,” she says. “One, the location was perfect. It is an easy commute to anywhere in the Capital Region. Two, the facility was exactly what we were looking for. As a start-up biotechnology company, we were looking for wet laboratory space at an incubator facility. Three, we were looking forward to the facility’s growth, and possibly to collaborating with other tenants. Four, we were also delighted with the fact that the East Campus was part of the University at Albany. Being part of the University has significant benefits, such as access to research libraries, student interns, and faculty expertise.”

Although Clarke and Del Vecchio are still the only employees, “I anticipate that, within the next five years, we will grow to at least 40,” says Clarke. When expansion becomes a reality, “we would definitely interview University at Albany alumni. As I mentioned, one of the many advantages to the East Campus is being part of the University.”

VTI was one of the first tenants at the East Campus. “It has been exciting for us to see the facility grow from a few companies to its current near-capacity status,” comments the State University College at Geneseo graduate. “The East Campus has been a wonderful place to work from the beginning. We have excellent laboratory space, and the personnel have always been extremely accommodating.”

Clarke notes that VTI has collaborated with some of the other East Campus tenants, including WR² and Taconic Biotechnology; she and Del Vecchio also look forward to working with the staff at the Center for Comparative Functional Genomics. “CCFG has state-of-the-art equipment and technology, which is an incredible asset to an incubator facility, and likewise to a small biotechnology company like VTI,” she says.

UAlbany gained positive news coverage in The New York Times on Jan. 4, when the Times reprinted Gov. George Pataki’s State of the State Address.

In his speech the governor proposed a new $1 billion high tech initiative to fund research in biotechnology, nanotechnology and fiber optic technology, thus creating the largest high-tech economic development initiative in the state’s history.

“Nanoelectronics - cutting-edge computer miniaturization research being carried out here in Albany - will allow us to design computer chips that will replace the damaged functions of the spinal cord or optic nerves, enabling people to walk and see again,” he said.

Pataki proposed three Centers of Excellence: “One in Buffalo with the State University at Buffalo, Roswell Park and a consortium of industry partners; one in Albany with IBM and the State University at Albany; and one in Rochester with Corning, Kodak and other companies working with the Rochester Institute of Technology, the University of Rochester and other schools.”

The Daily News also carried a story about UAlbany’s potential as a Center of Excellence. Also this month, the Poughkeepsie Journal carried a story about how the UAlbany center would enhance IBM Corp.’s $2.5 billion project to construct a leading-edge microchip plant in East Fishkill.

The Journal reported that IBM Microelectronics has already hired more than a dozen UAlbany doctoral graduates who have a background in materials physics.

In the Dec. 20-27 issue of Chemical Week, UAlbany’s Institute for Materials at CESTM and Albany Molecular Research at the East Campus were featured in an article titled “Hot Prospects: Snapshots of Growth Companies.”

Locally, the Times Union reported that Meredith Butler was named Distinguished Librarian by the State University of New York Board of Trustees. She is the first person in the SUNY system to be honored with that title.

Commencement to Have New Look
By Greta Petry

There will be a whole new look and feel to the University at Albany’s 157th Commencement. Scheduled for Saturday, May 19, and Sunday, May 20, 2001, this year’s Commencement will feature a weekend full of activities, all held on the Albany campus. At the recommendation of a special Commencement Task Force appointed last spring by President Karen R. Hitchcock, Commencement is being expanded to include more individual recognition for graduates and more activities for graduates and their families.

In addition to the traditional undergraduate degree-conferral ceremony on Sunday morning, and the graduate commencement ceremony, which will be held at the RACC at 10 a.m. on Saturday, schools and departments will hold individual ceremonies designed to give the graduates more personal recognition. “We are adding a more personal touch,” said Linda Wheeler, director of academic events and commencement coordinator. “At the smaller ceremonies, we will call out the name of each graduate. Parents, relatives, and friends will be able to see their graduate stand up and be recognized.”

The new format and location change are the first steps in a campus-wide effort to ensure that Commencement provides the kind of quality experience graduates and their families deserve. “The Uni-versity at Albany is a community - and we want all of our students to feel they are a special part of that community,” said Pre-sident Hitchcock. “Parents have often made great sacrifices so that their children can obtain a University education, and we want them to enjoy fully this proud moment with their children.”

The weekend’s events include a picnic for all graduates and their families and expanded Torch Night activities on Saturday, ending with a gala fireworks display. Further information will be available soon. Watch future editions of Update and check the University’s Web site for more information as it becomes available.

“I encourage the entire University community to get involved, to volunteer for Commencement 2001, and to share our excitement about the new format for the ceremonies,” said Hitchcock.

The grant, earmarked for the Life Impact Scholarship Program of the University’s Initiatives For Women (IFW), will provide resources for tuition and other educational expenses for women transferring from regional community colleges in the years 2001-2002. Criteria for “nontraditional” status include such factors as being 25 or older, having children, and having work experience. The recipients must also have great financial need.

IFW supports the aspirations and economic empowerment of women through financial awards that underwrite their academic and professional development. With the Avon grant, IFW will undertake an outreach to local community colleges - including Hudson Valley, Schenectady County and Adirondack community colleges - to identify students who would qualify for IFW scholarships.

Kathleen Walas, president of the Avon Products Foundation, Inc. said, “Avon is especially pleased that the grant to UAlbany’s Life Impact program will empower women by providing direct scholarship aid for nontraditional women students, as well as allow the University to identify models that can be replicated at other institutions to help integrate mature women into four-year colleges upon completion of a two-year community college degree.”

Nontraditional transfer students often lack the financial resources to attend college full-time, and prolonged part-time study sometimes results in their dropping out. The Avon grant offers them the chance to complete their degrees and, in the process, enhance their ability to compete in the marketplace.

“Since transfer students comprise nearly one third of our student population, and nontraditional students are a growing percentage of that population, it is fitting that the University at Albany is now focusing greater care and resources on these students’ unique challenges,” said President Karen R. Hitchcock. “The Avon grant paves the way for their success and their future economic empowerment.”

In addition, noted Carol F. Bullard, director of Corporate and Foundation Relations at UAlbany and chair of the IFW Steering Committee, “the data gathered in time from this program will enable us to better target our financial assistance, design our advisory services, and share key findings with our community college partners.”

V. Mark Durand to Serve as Interim Dean of College of Arts and Sciences
V. Mark Durand has been named Interim Dean of the College of Arts and Sciences, effective Feb. 1. Durand, a professor of psychology, brings to this assignment experience as the college’s associate dean, and extensive service in other leadership roles.

He is a former chair of the Department of Psychology, former chair of the faculty, and chair of the University’s honors task force.

His research centers on the assessment and treatment of behavior problems in children, focusing particularly on autism, developmental disabilities, and sleep disorders.

The search for a permanent dean will begin later in the spring, at an appropriate time in relation to the provost’s search.

Durand succeeds Richard J. Hoffmann, who has been with the University for two years. Hoffmann has been a “passionate advocate for the quality and integrity of the undergraduate program,” said Carlos E. Santiago, interim provost and vice president for academic affairs. “He provided critical leadership for programming and designing the planned Life Sciences building and the rehabilitation of the former administration building. And he has spurred us institutionally to bring our campus-wide policies and procedures into better conformance with practice at other modern research universities.”

Hoffmann has accepted an appointment as dean of the College of Arts and Sciences at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln.

Now, thanks to UAlbany’s Center for Technology in Government, there’s help. CTG has launched The Insider’s Guide to Using Information in Government (http://www.ctg.albany.edu/guides/usinginfo/), a Web-based resource that helps government professionals improve the way they use information.

The guide represents more than two years of applied research in CTG’s Using Information in Government program. The program began as an invitation to New York State agencies “to discuss the challenges they face in using government information for planning, operations, evaluation, and decision-making,” said Meghan Cook, CTG project associate.

From that early discussion, CTG worked on eight projects with agencies that demonstrated strong commitments to tackle “the issues, problems, and challenges that they faced in dealing with information,” Cook explained.

“This work draws back the curtain on the inside workings of government programs. It helps leaders, staff, and scholars to better understand the nature and scope of the work needed to create streamlined, convenient services for citizens and businesses,” CTG Director Sharon Dawes said. “Behind the scenes of an easy-to-use Web site or a reliable administrative system is an enormous array of data, policies, processes, relationships, and technologies that have to work smoothly together. The Insider’s Guide was prepared to help government agencies succeed at this daunting work.”

The agencies brought their own staff and resources to the table, but the center’s work was covered by a regular state budget allocation. This funding arrangement makes it possible for CTG to collaborate on important problems, regardless of the size and budget of the agencies involved. In addition, it enabled the center to bring in faculty experts, such as School of Business professors Lakshmi Mohan and Giri Tayi, and School of Education professor Anthony Cresswell, all of whom worked on the Insider’s Guide effort.

“Agency staff also brought a tremendous level of commitment to these projects,” Cook noted. For one project, Building Trust Before Building a System: The Making of the Homeless Information Management System, the Bureau of Shelter Services (BSS) worked with more than 20 other organizations to develop a means of tracking services available to homeless, at-risk adults and families. In addition, the tracking process enabled BSS to determine the effectiveness of those services, which also include parenting courses and job training.

Another, Learning to Be “Up-Front” with Information Technology Investment Decisions, allowed the state Department of Transportation to evaluate how best to spend its resources on IT products and services. The Central New York Psychiatric Center chose to focus on coordinating data flow between its central office and 22 remote locations; Bigger Isn’t Always Better: Managing with Statistical Data from Forensic Psychiatric Center was the result. Other participants included the State Comptroller’s office; the State Office of Real Property Services; the State Council on Children and Families; and the New York City Department of Information Technology and Telecommunications.

Project results ranged from identifying the capabilities needed in the state’s redesigned central accounting system; to understanding the resources necessary to implement New York’s new annual property reassessment program; to creating a knowledge bank to assist IT professionals in system planning, budgeting, procurement, staffing, and data management.

While the agencies’ needs and objectives differed, CTG staff found that there were, in general, six issues managers face in using and disseminating government information: strategy, policy, data, costs, skills, and technology.

These topics are summarized on the Insider’s Guide Web site, as are the individual cases, which provide a template for other government agencies to refer to in tackling their own information use, creation, and dissemination problems. “The world is changing,” observed CTG project associate Mark LaVigne. “Businesses have already adopted new ways of using information. Government is now doing that, too.”

The Insider’s Guide is designed for public managers everywhere and appears to be a hit with those who have used it, according to LaVigne. December 2000 articles in the online journals Civic.com and Governing.com generated national and international interest in the guide - and positive feedback. Greg Smith of the state comptroller’s office’s Division of Municipal Affairs posted the following commentary: “Perhaps the most effective feature of the Insider’s Guide is the intertwining of your philosophy with links to other credible sources and using the case studies as exclamation points. No matter how many ‘authoritative guides’ you stack up, the true selling point is in the real-life success stories. And your site structure, including the intelligent links, makes it easy to pull the wide variety of sources together.”

Building a Laboratory on a Chip
By Mary Fiess
What does it take to put a laboratory on a chip?

One short answer: you need to start with scientific savvy across a wide range of disciplines and the kind of state-of-the-art facilities and technological know-how found at the University’s Institute for Materials.

With a new $900,000 grant through the “XYZ on a Chip” program of the National Science Foundation, the Institute is collaborating with two other universities to develop a dramatically new kind of tool - in effect, a laboratory on a microchip -for measuring how cells respond to toxins, drugs and other stimuli.

The project reflects the Institute’s growing strength in the hot new field of BioMEMS, says Institute Director of Technology James Castracane. MEMS (micro-electro-mechanical systems) technology is the marriage between traditional microelectronics and mechanical systems to realize a physical device such as the sensor used in air bag deployment; BioMEMS technology applies microdevices to biological and medical problems.

The very nature of the BioMEMS field requires broad scientific expertise, and the three-year NSF project brings together faculty from six academic departments - physiology, veterinary biomedical sciences, mechanical engineering, electrical engineering, physics and chemistry - at three universities, UAlbany, University of Missouri-Columbia (UMC), and University of Louisville (UL). The group also has a business partner to help speed the transfer of the technology to the marketplace.

The challenge for the researchers is to develop a micro-based device to replace or complement two extremely sensitive and powerful electrical techniques now used to study the secretions of cells to determine how they respond to stimuli.

Kevin Gillis, (electrical engineering and physiology, UMC), the project’s prinicipal investigator, uses the two techniques, the patch-clamp technique and carbon-fiber amperometry, to measure secretions from single cells. The patch-clamp technique, which allows the direct recording of the current that passes through a cell membrane, was a revolutionary advance in cell physiology research and its inventors were awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1991.

But both techniques, while providing valuable new information about the mechanisms by which neurons and endocrine cells secrete neurotransmitters and hormones, have limitations. Patch-clamp experiments, for example, must be performed one cell at a time by a skilled (usually Ph.D.-level) experimentalist and thus the execution of those experiments constitutes a bottleneck that limits the pace of scientific progress.

The microchip approach, however, could overcome that limitation.

“With our Institute’s fabrication capabilities, we can make big arrays - hundred of thousands - of micro- or nano-wells into which we put single cells and then do the measurements,” says Castracane.

To fabricate such a device, Institute staff, including senior MEMS scientist Bai Xu, and MEMS postdoctoral student Yahong Yao, will use their well-known expertise in high-resolution lithography and deposition and etching techniques, and the state-of-the-art tools available at the pilot prototyping facility for the current industry standard in computer chip design - the 200mm, or 8-inch, wafer.

Two general approaches will be tested, says Castracane. With the first approach, the microdevices will be fabricated by micromachining various materials such as silicon, silicon oxides (glass, quartz) and silicon nitride. The second approach will be to fabricate devices by replica-molding organic polymers from masters created using photolithography.

While the favored material for traditional MEMS platforms is silicon, it is expensive to micromachine and is not necessarily biocompatible. For those reasons, scientists are exploring alternative materials.

Castracane and Zaichun Feng (mechanical and aerospace engineering, UMC) are responsible for the device layout. Richard Baldwin, (chemistry, UL) is in charge of the electrochemical electrodes that will be constructed on the chips. Feng will model microfluidic flow on the chip, including the use of hydrodynamic forces to position cells without damaging cell membranes. Gillis is designing the electronics necessary for interfacing prototype microchips with external devices. And Gillis and Meredith Hay (veterinary biomedical sciences, UMC) will test the microchips using several different cell types.

ALA, Ltd. of Westbury, NY, the group’s business partner, will offer guidance on the economics associated with different types of microdevices to help assure commercial viability and will market devices that result from the project.

“When fully developed, our microchip-based approach will dramatically increase the rate at which ‘patch-clamp’ experiments can be performed because the fabrication of the recording electrode and its position relative to the cell will be highly automated and massively parallel. It is likely that the entire experiment could occur under computer control with human supervision.

“Experiments that would be unthinkable in the past, such as massive screening of thousands of possible drugs that target ion channels, will be enabled. The analogy of the increase in efficiency that occurred when hand-assembled electronic circuit were replaced by silicon integrated circuit is appropriate,” says Castracane.

Beyond that, all the cross-disciplinary work done to develop this laboratory on a chip will advance the technology for such other possible BioMEMS devices as cell-based biosensors that can warn against contamination of water and food supplies by toxins, says Castracane.

The successful United Way/SEFA campaign that closed in December raised $86,346 from 486 donors in the UAlbany community. Shown are Campaign Coordinator Michael Boots (standing) with, from left, Kathy Pelham, president of the United Way Northeastern NY, Jim Mulligan, senior campaign director for United Way/SEFA, and UAlbany volunteer Maureen Schaefer.

The average gift was $177.66 this year, up from $146.29 last year. Among the many groups that receive funding from United Way are Unity House of Troy, Inc., Homeless & Travelers Aid Society of the Capital District, Inc., and Equinox, Inc. Boots said, “I would like to extend a special thank you to the following UAlbany volunteers: Maureen Schaefer; Elaine Dillon; Kathy Perry; William Hedberg; Gerald Parker; Vicki Dillon; Karen Silinsky; Gayle Gellner; Kirk Leszczynski; Candace Griffith; Eileen Pfeiffer; Sydney Gatto-Cresswell; Dona Parker; Ronald Toseland; Robert McMorris; Janice Cook; Robin Richards; Helen Grzymala; Sandra Graff; Kathleen Gurney; and Linda Papa.” Photo by Mark Schmidt.

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