NYMC Receives $2.2 Million HECap Award
One of 35 Colleges and Universities Across New York State to Receive Funding From HECap Matching Grant Program
New York Medical College (NYMC) is one of 35 colleges and universities across New York State to receive funding from the Higher Education Capital (HECap) Matching Grant Program which supports infrastructure improvements at New York’s private, not-for-profit colleges and universities. The latest round of funding in the amount of $2,219,031 will be used for creating open-concept laboratory space capable of housing multidisciplinary research teams and shared instrumentation at NYMC, which will complement the renovations already being planned as part of NYMC’s energy performance project.
HECap awards support projects that provide increased training in health sciences through the construction of new laboratory and research spaces, the purchase of new instructional technologies and medical equipment as well as a variety of other capital investments and improvements. They are awarded by the HECap Board pursuant to a competitive application process. Campuses that receive grants are required to invest at least $3 of their own funds for every $1 of state funds received.
“The HECap grant will support laboratory renovations that will be transformative to NYMC’s ability to develop and accelerate research programs seeking novel treatments and strategies against COVID-19, cardiovascular and metabolic diseases and other significant public health challenges, as well as attract new translational investigators and the most talented M.D., Masters and Ph.D. students,” said Robert W. Amler, M.D., M.B.A., vice president for government affairs and dean of the NYMC School of Health Sciences and Practice.
The project to develop approximately 20,000 square feet of modern, high-performance, open concept laboratory space capable of housing multidisciplinary research teams, and critically important shared instrumentation in the Basic Sciences Building, will attract investigators and students and will enhance research funding.
The redesigned space will allow for co-location based on alignment in research focus and will provide NYMC investigators and students, as well as other local investigators and collaborators, with access to leading-edge tools, equipment and technologies. The proposed renovation also will construct dedicated spaces for shared instrumentation such as mass spectrometry, high-performance liquid chromatography, microscopy, flow cytometry, genomics, in vitro analytics and a satellite animal research/imaging core.
The open concept encourages higher levels of collegial cooperation between researchers. Open bench zones will be utilized for sample preparation for various modalities of investigation in shared access cores, and data will be analyzed in dry computation space that will be located within an office zone to maximize both space and HVAC efficiencies.
The project will commit to sustainable building and operations and will integrate high-performance, cost-effective systems and sustainable finishes that reduce environmental impact while offering superior indoor environmental qualities without compromising the primary goals of functionality and quality of the research space.
"As New York builds back, these investments are targeted to help attract and train people for the health sciences jobs that New York needs as we continue to reopen and reimagine our economy, and to strengthen and enhance our world-leading institutions of higher education," said New York State Governor Andrew M. Cuomo. "This grant program provides our students with the tools they need to thrive and become New York's future leaders, scientists and frontline workers."
“These state investments in higher ed capital projects are smart growth job-creating engines that will benefit our communities for years to come,” said New York State Senator Pete Harckham.
