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Center For Biotechnology Awarded $500k U.S. Department of Commerce Grant

The i6 Challenge award sets aim on enhancing Long Island Bioscience Ecosystem

The Center for Biotechnology at Stony Brook University has announced that is has received a three-year, $500,000 U.S. Department of Commerce i6 Challenge Investment. The award will support the Center for Biotechnology’s (CFB) efforts to bolster the regional bioscience ecosystem by supporting a formal mentorship program, as well as a critical NIH-focused SBIR/STTR training and application development program which will assist in capital formation and launching new companies.

The Center for Biotechnology is among 35 organizations — including nonprofits, institutions of higher education, and entrepreneurship-focused organizations — from 19 states that will receive nearly $15 million to create and expand cluster-focused, proof-of-concept and commercialization programs, and early-stage seed capital funds through the Economic Development Administration’s (EDA) Regional Innovation Strategies (RIS) program. The Office of Innovation and Entrepreneurship (OIE), housed within the U.S. Department of Commerce’s Economic Development Administration (EDA), leads the Regional Innovation Strategies Program to spur innovation capacity-building activities in regions across the nation.

“Long Island’s innovation economy is rooted in cutting-edge basic and applied science and engineering, fostered by top-tier research institutions, a highly educated population, and a depth, breadth and scope of intellectual capital.” said Dr. Clinton T. Rubin, Director, Center for Biotechnology. Dr. Rubin continued, “This award and the initiatives it will support add to the growing, concentrated efforts the Center for Biotechnology, the Long Island Bioscience Hub and the hub’s partner institutions are making to grow the high technology innovations born in our region into fully realized ventures.”

The Center for Biotechnology (CFB) at Stony Brook University is an Empire State Development Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) Center for Advanced Technology. Established in 1983, the CFB’s efforts are focused on accelerating the development of biomedical technologies in order to have a positive impact on human health and society. The CFB is also the lead administrative institution for the Long Island Bioscience Hub (LIBH) an NIH-designated Research Evaluation and Commercialization Hub (REACH) established with a National Institutes of Health grant in 2015. The initiatives under the i6 Challenge award will complement the efforts of the LIBH, a partnership between the Center for Biotechnology, Stony Brook University, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Brookhaven National Laboratory and the Feinstein Institute for Medical Research, to commercialize biomedical innovations emerging from the partner institutions.

Download a PDF of the press release here.

Related Articles:
Schumer: Biz-Development Funds Big Deal For SBU – Innovate Long Island
Stony Brook Biotech Center Wins $500,000 to Foster Companies – Newsday

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Applications are now open for the 12th BioREACH Award Program from the Center for Biotechnology, which provides $50,000 in translational research funding for Stony Brook faculty and postdoctoral researchers to generate the evidence needed to advance promising innovations to the next stage of development.

BioREACH funds milestone-driven studies and welcomes biomedical innovations as well as platforms, tools, computational technologies, and other enabling technologies with the potential to contribute to solutions addressing unmet needs in health.

Application deadline: October 29, 2026, 5:00pm ET

For info sessions, eligibility and deadlines visit our REACH Website and FAQ.

The Center for Biotechnology (CfB) has helped advance some of Stony Brook University’s most impactful biomedical innovations, among them the yeast two-hybrid system, Xiaflex®, ReoPro®, Oracea®, and 3D virtual colonoscopy. The CfB has supported more than 475 faculty-led translational research projects and contributed to 306 license agreements generating $51 million in royalty returns to the University.

Questions? Reach out to our program contacts or sign up for office hours:

Dee Dao, PhD, Associate Director, dee.dao@stonybrook.edu
Office Hours: Monday–Friday, 2–3:30 PM | Sign up Here

Zelda Mendelowitz, PhD, Venture Associate, zelda.mendelowitz@stonybrook.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 8–11 AM | Sign up Here

[post_title] => BioREACH: Translational Research Funding Opportunity [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => bioreach-translational-research-funding-opportunity [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2026-09-04 11:55:36 [post_modified_gmt] => 2026-09-04 15:55:36 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://centerforbiotechnology.org/?p=5065 [menu_order] => 0 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [1] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 3181 [post_author] => 3 [post_date] => 2019-02-28 16:35:02 [post_date_gmt] => 2019-02-28 16:35:02 [post_content] => 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. [post_title] => “Combating osteoporosis and obesity with exercise: leveraging cell mechanosensitivity” [post_excerpt] => [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => combating-osteoporosis-and-obesity-with-exercise-leveraging-cell-mechanosensitivity [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2019-04-09 14:40:26 [post_modified_gmt] => 2019-04-09 14:40:26 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => https://centerforbiotechnology.org/?p=3181 [menu_order] => 100 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) [2] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 3428 [post_author] => 3 [post_date] => 2020-01-22 14:42:19 [post_date_gmt] => 2020-01-22 14:42:19 [post_content] => IO360˚ convenes stakeholders spanning the science and business communities to report on the latest data impacting immuno-oncology to fight a wider range of cancers. The 6th annual Immuno-Oncology 360° Summit is the premier meeting across all stakeholders in IO, addressing the rapid advancements of clinical, scientific and business developments of IO in one setting to help develop therapeutics for a wider range of cancers at an accelerated rate. The 3 day summit features more than 80 time sensitive IO topics, over 500 senior level thought leaders and includes over 10 hours of networking. Use the code CFB20 for a 20% discount. For more information please visit: www.io360summit.com [post_title] => Immuno-Oncology 360˚ - February 26-28, 2020 [post_excerpt] => IO360˚addresses the rapid advancements of clinical, scientific and business developments of IO. Discount registration available for CFB constituents. 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[post_title] => Summer 2017 Newsletter [post_excerpt] => The latest CFB Newsletter has been released - Highlights include major client funding and contracts, the expansion of the LIBH pipeline, and CFB leadership appearing before congress to promote comprehensive, early technology development programs. [post_status] => publish [comment_status] => open [ping_status] => open [post_password] => [post_name] => summer-2017-newsletter [to_ping] => [pinged] => [post_modified] => 2017-09-05 13:19:00 [post_modified_gmt] => 2017-09-05 13:19:00 [post_content_filtered] => [post_parent] => 0 [guid] => http://centerforbiotechnology.org/?p=2801 [menu_order] => 139 [post_type] => post [post_mime_type] => [comment_count] => 0 [filter] => raw ) ) [post_count] => 4 [current_post] => -1 [before_loop] => 1 [in_the_loop] => [post] => WP_Post Object ( [ID] => 5065 [post_author] => 4 [post_date] => 2026-09-01 14:03:32 [post_date_gmt] => 2026-09-01 18:03:32 [post_content] =>

Applications are now open for the 12th BioREACH Award Program from the Center for Biotechnology, which provides $50,000 in translational research funding for Stony Brook faculty and postdoctoral researchers to generate the evidence needed to advance promising innovations to the next stage of development.

BioREACH funds milestone-driven studies and welcomes biomedical innovations as well as platforms, tools, computational technologies, and other enabling technologies with the potential to contribute to solutions addressing unmet needs in health.

Application deadline: October 29, 2026, 5:00pm ET

For info sessions, eligibility and deadlines visit our REACH Website and FAQ.

The Center for Biotechnology (CfB) has helped advance some of Stony Brook University’s most impactful biomedical innovations, among them the yeast two-hybrid system, Xiaflex®, ReoPro®, Oracea®, and 3D virtual colonoscopy. The CfB has supported more than 475 faculty-led translational research projects and contributed to 306 license agreements generating $51 million in royalty returns to the University.

Questions? Reach out to our program contacts or sign up for office hours:

Dee Dao, PhD, Associate Director, dee.dao@stonybrook.edu
Office Hours: Monday–Friday, 2–3:30 PM | Sign up Here

Zelda Mendelowitz, PhD, Venture Associate, zelda.mendelowitz@stonybrook.edu
Office Hours: Tuesday, Wednesday, Friday, 8–11 AM | Sign up Here

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BioREACH: Translational Research Funding Opportunity

More Information

“Combating osteoporosis and obesity with exercise: leveraging cell mechanosensitivity”

More Information

Immuno-Oncology 360˚ – February 26-28, 2020

More Information

Summer 2017 Newsletter

More Information