Science Market Update

The first construction of an image by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMRI) by Dr. Paul Lauterbur took place at the University at Stony Brook thirty years ago, and the Stony Brook Chemistry professor went on to win the 2003 Nobel Prize for his work. So it's fitting that another breakthrough in MRI technology is also taking place at the Long Island research university, this time by biomedical engineer Balaji Sitharaman, right, and his team, who have developed a potentially safer and more cost effective MRI contrast agent for improved disease diagnosis and detection. The agent is graphene-based rather than gadolinium-based, and the success of the advanced agent is documented in a recent PLoS ONE article.

Cornell University has recently created the Kevin M. McGovern Family Center for Venture Development in the Life Sciences and announced the center’s first occupant, Cornell’s native Glycobia Inc. According to INDY, the center makes its home on Ithaca’s campus in Weill Hall and was founded to help promising Cornell life science companies created by inventors at the university’s four campuses to develop their technologies, improve their businesses, and prepare them for substantial investment to help them grow. The center will work with regional, state and national leaders to help startups advance their businesses in a way where they will have important effects on the economy and the field of life sciences.

Federal basic and applied science research funding could see an increase of 3.3% over 2012 (enacted) levels, to $64B, if the President's budget request for 2013 is approved.  Holding tight to the promise of supporting technology and innovation while at the same time respecting the deficit cap imposed by Congress, the latest budget request proposes only level $30.7B funding for the NIH but funding increases for the NSF, NIST, and DOE Office of Science, with a combined total of $13.1B.