The Center for Biotechnology (CFB) announces a Request for Proposals under its Applied Research and Development Program (ARaD). Through this program, the CFB provides matching grants for Stony Brook University affiliated faculty and industry partners to collaborate on applied research and R&D projects.

Projects will be evaluated based upon their potential to positively impact the corporate partner, the potential for economic impact in NYS, and the scientific and commercial merit of the proposal. The maximum award from the Center for Biotechnology will be $40K and will require a minimum 1:1 financial match from the corporate partner. Smaller projects are also encouraged. All awards, including the funding provided by the corporate partner, will be established on campus in the name of the faculty collaborator and will be governed by a corporate-sponsored research or testing agreement, depending upon the circumstances. Projects are expected to start on or about July 1.

The application guidelines and forms can be found here. Deadline for submission is April 15, 2019, 5 pm.

Please contact the team at the Center for Biotechnology with any questions (Project Questions: william.hanes@stonybrook.edu; Budget Questions: annette.depietri@stonybrook.edu)

Center for Biotechnology Director Dr. Clinton Rubin has co-authored a recent article published in Nature Reviews Endocrinology ““Combating osteoporosis and obesity with exercise: leveraging cell mechanosensitivity”.  Abstract below, full article here.

Abstract: 

Osteoporosis, a condition of skeletal decline that undermines quality of life, is treated with pharmacological interventions that are associated with poor adherence and adverse effects. Complicating efforts to improve clinical outcomes, the incidence of obesity is increasing, predisposing the population to a range of musculoskeletal complications and metabolic disorders. Pharmacological management of obesity has yet to deliver notable reductions in weight and debilitating complications are rarely avoided. By contrast, exercise shows promise as a non-invasive and non-pharmacological method of regulating both osteoporosis and obesity. The principal components of exercise — mechanical signals — promote bone and muscle anabolism while limiting formation and expansion of fat mass. Mechanical regulation of bone and marrow fat might be achieved by regulating functions of differentiated cells in the skeletal tissue while biasing lineage selection of their common progenitors — mesenchymal stem cells. An inverse relationship between adipocyte versus osteoblast fate selection from stem cells is implicated in clinical conditions such as childhood obesity and increased marrow adiposity in type 2 diabetes mellitus, as well as contributing to skeletal frailty. Understanding how exercise-induced mechanical signals can be used to improve bone quality while decreasing fat mass and metabolic dysfunction should lead to new strategies to treat chronic diseases such as osteoporosis and obesity.