NYS Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno (left) and Congressman Michael McNulty joined President Jackson at the ribbon-cutting.

Scientists at the forefront of emerging, innovative biomedical research shared their discoveries at a symposium and Presidential Colloquy held to mark the opening of Rensselaer’s Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies in early September.

The symposium included keynote speeches by three top scientists in their fields: Shirley Tilghman, president of Princeton University and a highly respected molecular biologist; Troy Duster, professor of sociology at New York University and Chancellor’s Professor at the University of California, Berkeley; and Robert Langer, the Kenneth J. Germeshausen Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Topics discussed during the Sept. 9 event included genomic sequencing, regenerative medicine, enzymes in drug discovery, and related research. Several Rensselaer faculty members and invited guests also made presentations about their research.

Langer presented some of his team’s extraordinary developments, including the case of a young victim with severe burns on his chest who was healed with tissue grown from his own cells.

University of Virginia Professor of Chemistry and Pathology Donald Hunt talked about the capabilities of new analytical equipment made possible by the intersection of engineering and life sciences. Using the new mass spectrometer, and a database of peptide sequences, scientists can identify thousands of phosphoproteins in a fraction of the time it used to take. Scientists may someday be able to develop a vaccine that can identify proteins secreted by diseased cells and stimulate cells to produce their own destroying agents.

Capping the day’s activities was a poster session consisting of more than 90 posters featuring some of the groundbreaking work being conducted by graduate and undergraduate students at Rensselaer, and a dinner featuring speaker Dr. Roderic Pettigrew ’73, director of the National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.

Several of the nation’s top science policy makers and researchers came together at Rensselaer the next day to discuss “Opportunities at the Interface of Bioscience and Bioengineering” at a Presidential Colloquy. The roundtable discussion, moderated by President Shirley Ann Jackson, focused on the risks and the rewards of research at the intersection of the biosciences and bioengineering.

(l-r) Shirley Tilghman, Robert Langer, and Troy Duster at the Biotechnology Symposium.

Panelists spoke on the promise of the future of biotechnology, including tissue regeneration using both embryonic and adult stem cells, what can be achieved with the information from the human genome project, and the challenge of finding funding for pioneering research.

Panelists included Dr. Elias Zerhouni, director of the National Institutes of Health; Bruce Alberts, president of the National Academy of Sciences; William Wulf, president of the National Academy of Engineering; Claire Fraser ’77, president and director of The Institute for Genomic Research (TIGR); James Mullen ’80, chief executive officer of Biogen Idec Inc.; and William Haseltine, chairman and chief executive officer of Human Genome Sciences Inc.

They discussed the importance of scientists as leaders in a public debate on some of the potentially controversial issues, and the need for more funding in basic research.

A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new center followed the colloquy. Participants included U.S. Representative Michael McNulty, New York State Senate Majority Leader Joseph Bruno, and other leaders, representatives from economic development agencies and Rensselaer.

“I’m not a scientist or a technician, but sometimes I can recognize vision,” said McNulty. “I applaud what’s going to happen in this building, in the fields of biology, physics, engineering, computer technology — it will accrue to benefits to the area, the state, the nation and the world.”

Originally published in Rensselaer Magazine, Winter 2004

Published December 1, 2004