The Center for Biotechnology (CFB), a New York State Center for Advanced Technology, in collaboration with Stony Brook University, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, and with additional support provided by the National Institutes of Health REACH initiative (Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub), Research Foundation for SUNY, and Empire State Development, has formed the Long Island Bioscience Hub.

About the LIBH

The Long Island Bioscience Hub (LIBH) aims to foster the development of therapeutics, preventatives, diagnostics, devices and research tools emerging from LIBH partner institutions that address diseases within the NIH’s mission.

The development of these technologies is supported by several funding mechanisms as well as a comprehensive suite of technology commercialization services that will help faculty innovators move their academic innovations into the commercial sector via a start-up company, licensing opportunity, and/or a strategic partnership. The Hub focuses its resources on four specific areas:

1. Expanding existing infrastructure to foster, prioritize, and commercialize innovations across partner institutions
2. Implementing translational research initiatives that will accelerate development and create a pipeline of “commercial-ready” innovations
3. Recruiting a regional talent pool of experienced Bio-Entrepreneurs in Residence (BEIRs) to facilitate early-stage company formation
4. Educating faculty, post-docs, and graduate students about entrepreneurship and commercialization in the life sciences, and establishing a formal mentor network.

Funding Opportunities

– Feasibility Award

– Proof of Concept Award

The LIBH’s two-tiered technology development initiative collectively contributes to a pipeline of commercially promising biomedical technologies. The latest Request for Proposals has been released with a submission due date of March 7, 2024, 5:00 PM EST. Proposals submitted after the due date will not be considered. All proposals must be submitted via email to: center_for_biotechnology@stonybrook.edu

Click here for a PDF outlining the full funding program overview and proposal guidelines. Note – a six-month interim progress report and annual report are required for every REACH funded project. You will find the template for the progress report and additional materials necessary for application below.

Download Funding Program Documents:

• Application
• Project Plan
• Compliance
• Budget Forms
• Progress Report Template

Faculty members, physicians, postdoctoral associates, and BEIRs who are considering the submission of an application are strongly encouraged to discuss the proposal with Phuong Nguyen, PhD (phuong.t.nguyen@stonybrook.edu) at the Center for Biotechnology prior to writing a full proposal.

Funded Projects

Feasibility Awards

Enhancement of Muscle Regeneration in Duchenne-like Dystrophic Muscle by Low Intensity Vibration – Dr. Addolorata Pisconti

An Articulated Stylet for Placement of Post-pyloric Feeding Tubes – Dr. Rahul Panesar *Health Security Focused

Early Detection of Carotid Stenosis and Cardio-output Disorders using NIR and Ultrasound Doppler Gram – Dr. Yi-Xian Qin

Next generation IAPP/Amylin analogs for the treatment of diabetes – Dr. Andisheh Abedini *Health Security Focused

REACH: Peptide inhibitors of Porphyromonas gingivalis fimbrial assembly for the prevention of periodontal disease – Dr. Sarah Alaei

Profiling the human immune system with machine learning algorithms and bioinformatics software – Dr. Gurinder Atwal, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Therapeutic for Clostridium difficile antibiotic-associated diarrheal disease – Dr. James Bliska, Stony Brook University

Radioactive Scandium Complexes to Image Prostate Cancer with Positron Emission Tomography – Dr. Eszter Boros, Stony Brook University

Device for rapid, simple and highly parallel single-cell processing – Dr. Eric Brouzes, Stony Brook University

Targeting Pathogenic Viral Infections with First-In-Class Viral Budding Inhibitors – Dr. Carol Carter, Stony Brook University

Developing a small molecule drug to treat systemic C. albicans infections – Dr. Nicholas Carpino, Stony Brook University

A Small Molecule Drug for the Treatment of Systemic Candidiasis – Nicolas Carpino, PhD and Jarrod French, Stony Brook University

Enhancement of Protein Yields Using Mechanical Signals: Augmenting Biotech Production to Reduce Drug Costs – Dr. M. Ete Chan, Stony Brook University

Next generation hedgehog inhibitor for invasive basal cell carcinoma – Dr. Jiang Chen, Stony Brook University

BRIKARD, a program for macrocyclic drug discovery – Dr. Evangelos Coutsias, Stony Brook University

Novel Therapeutics for MDR Pseudomonas aeruginosa – Dr. Fereidoon Daryaee, Stony Brook University

Novel therapeutics against fungal infection diseases – Dr. Maurizio Del Poeta, Stony Brook University

Development of Small Molecule Inhibitors for PLD6 as Therapeutics for Triple Negative Breast Cancer – Dr. Michael Frohman, Stony Brook University

A Novel Strategy for Recombinant AAV Vector Production for Gene Therapy – Dr. Patrick Hearing

Novel miR-129 Based Therapeutics for Colon Cancer – Dr. Jingfang Ju, Stony Brook University

REACH: Automation of Photoplethysmographic Screening for Coarctation of the Aorta and Patent Ductus Arteriosus – Dr. Robert I. Koppel, Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, Northwell Health

Fast Hybrid Approach For Determination of Structure of Therapeutic Protein Complexes – Dr. Dima Kozakov, Stony Brook University

A tandem-integration-based multi-barcode method for high-throughput combinatorial screening – Dr. Sasha Levy, Stony Brook University

REACH: Asymmetric Dual-Screen Active Matrix Flat Panel X-ray Imager – Dr. Anthony Lubinsky, Stony Brook University

REACH: Developing a non-invasive diagnostic for endometriosis – Dr. Christine Metz, Stony Brook University

Enhancement of Protein Yields Using Mechanical Signals: Augmenting Biotech Production to Reduce Drug Costs – Dr. Gabriel Pagnotti, Stony Brook University

REACH: A novel suction tip sleeve to facilitate laparoscopic surgery – Dr. Aurora Pryor, Stony Brook University

Non-invasive Acoustic Radiation Force Therapy for OA Induced Pain and Cartilage Regeneration – Dr. Yixian Qin

Mitigation of OA Induced Inflammation and Pain by Non-invasive Dynamic Array Ultrasound Generated Fluid Flow in Joints – Dr. Yi-Xian Qin, Stony Brook University

REACH: Soluble analogs of Amylin for the treatment of diabetes – Dr. Daniel Raleigh, Stony Brook University

Targeted Anti-Thrombotic Drug Delivery Using Engineered DNA Nano-Carriers – Dr. Oren Rotman, Stony Brook University

REACH: A Novel Recombinant BCG-Based Immunotherapy Platform for the Treatment of Cancer – Dr. Jessica Seeliger

Novel CAIX Targeted Combination Inhibitor/PET tracer to treat patients with solid tumors – Dr. Peter Smith-Jones, Stony Brook University

Substrate-Assisted Tethered Inhibitors of LigA to Treat MDR Gonorrhea – Dr. Peter Tonge, Stony Brook University

Novel Radiotracers to Image Infection in Humans using Positron Emission Tomography – Dr. Peter Tonge, Stony Brook University

Carbon-based nanoparticle delivery of nucleic acid expressing anti-amyloidogenic myelin basic protein (MBP) peptide to neurons to test feasibility of a novel approach to Alzheimer’s therapy – Dr. William Van Nostrand, Stony Brook University

LDL as Biomarker for Childhood Tuberculosis (TB) – Dr. Xinxin Yang

Targeting treatment-refractory myelodysplastic syndrome with small molecule drugs modulating novel hematopoietic progenitor self-renewal pathways – Dr. Lingbo Zhang, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

REACH: Chimerica Antigen Recognizing Bacteria to Treat Cancer – Dr. Yue Zhang

Proof of Concept Awards

(REACH) Enhancing CAR-T Cell Therapy Efficacy by Optimized Mechanical Signals – Dr. Mei Lin (Ete) Chan *Health Security Focused

REACH: Development of Methotrexate conjugated tumor specific gemcitabine and 5-FU modified MTX-5-FU-Gem-miR-15a mimic as novel therapeutics for metastatic colorectal cancer – Dr. Jingfang Ju

Small molecule immuno-enhancing drug to treat systemic microbial infections – Dr. Nick Carpino *Health Security Focused

A New Standard of Care for Implant Bed Preparation Utilizing an Innovative Drill Bit Technology – Dr. Marcus Abboud, Stony Brook University

REACH Enhancement of Protein Yields and Cell Proliferation Using Mechanical Signals: Augmenting Biotech Production to Reduce Drug and Cellular Therapy Costs – Dr. M. Ete Chan, Stony Brook University

REACH: The MELD computer method for discovery – Dr. Ken Dill, Stony Brook University

Orthovoltage X-Ray Minibeams: Brain Tumor Therapy with Tissue-sparing Incident Beams – Dr. Avraham Dilmanian, Stony Brook University

NEW‐HARP: A Highly Sensitive Avalanche Selenium Detector for Time‐of‐Flight (TOF) Positron Emission Tomography (PET) – Dr. Amirhossein Goldan, Stony Brook University

REACH: Developing Novel miR-129 Mimic Based Therapeutics for Colorectal Cancer – Dr. Jingfang Ju, Stony Brook University

REACH:Non-invasive Detection of Pancreatic Cancer – Dr. Arie Kaufman

REACH: Fast Hybrid Approach For Determination of Structure of Therapeutic Protein Complexes – Dr. Dima Kozakov, Stony Brook University

REACH: High-Efficiency Flat Panel X-ray Imager with Scintillating Glass Substrate – Dr. Anthony Lubinsky

fMRI Dynamic Phantom for Improved Detection of Resting-State Brain Networks – Dr. Lilianne Mujica-Parodi, Stony Brook University

Development of SMASH technology as a next-gen sequencing diagnostic for congenital heart disease – Dr. Michael Ronemus, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Azasteroids for Combination Anti-TB Therapy – Dr. Nicole Sampson, Stony Brook University

REACH: High-throughput connectomics using in-situ sequencing – Dr. Alexander Vaughn, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

A Novel Glioblastoma Drug – Oncolytic Virus PV1-Mono-Cre – Dr. Eckard Wimmer, Stony Brook University

REACH POC: LDL as biomarker for childhood tuberculosis (TB) – Dr. Xinxin Yang, Stony Brook University

Treatment of refractory myelodysplastic syndrome with small chemical compounds targeting novel self-renewal pathways – Dr. Lingbo Zhang, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory

Project Impacts

While the Long Island Bioscience Hub is only two‐years in existence, it has already had major impacts on technology development and licensing as well as company formation. Some highlights include:

– Next Generation Genomic Diagnostics
– Better Imaging for Early Cancer Detection: Multi-Well Avalance Selinum Doctors
– Improved Neruoimaging: fMRI Dynamic Phantom
– A Novel Gliblastoma Drug

Support for Commercialization & Entrepreneurial Activities

Understanding the issues surrounding commercialization of academic innovations is critical if the goal is to impact human health. To support faculty, post-doctoral associate, and graduate student understanding of these issues, and to streamline and improve the success rate of the “translational” process, the LIBH provides the following services:

• LIBH staff and industry advisors will be available to guide faculty innovators in all aspects of the commercialization process.
• Commercialization Boot Camp will provide a “hands on” workshop for faculty and post-docs interested in taking an active role in commercializing their innovations.
• A Mentor Network will provide teams of advisors to guide faculty, post-docs and graduate students involved in start-up ventures.
• The Fundamentals of the Bioscience Industry program will provide comprehensive training to graduate students and post-docs interested in the commercialization process and expanded career paths.
• Experienced Bioentrepreneurs-in-Residence (BEIR) will develop commercialization strategies in collaboration with faculty innovators, with the objective of licensing technology for new company formation.
• Access to a network of professional service providers and investors.

Commercialization Skills Development Resources

Educating faculty, post-docs, and graduate students about entrepreneurship and commercialization in the life sciences is an important goal of the Long Island Bioscience Hub. We have developed a curated resource library that provides videos on target topics important to those learning the ropes of the commercialization process. View the library here. 

Technology Development Resources

The REACH initiative represents a network of commercialization Hubs (UofL-ExCITE,MN-REACH, and LIBH) that can facilitate access to specialized facilities and expertise to advance development of academic-based technologies toward commercial goals. Access to these facilities and expertise is coordinated through the individual Hubs on a case by case basis. Click here for a list of specialized facilities and resources.