Letter to the Honorable Gary Locke, Secretary, United States Chamber of Commerce

Letter

Dear Secretary:

I am pleased to write in support of the application submitted by New York State's Center for Advanced Technology in Medical Biotechnology (Center for Biotechnology) at Stony Brook University for funding under the Jobs and Innovation Accelerator Challenge Grant. Such funding will enable the Center for Biotechnology and its collaborators, in a groundbreaking new consortium known as Accelerate Long Island, to advance commercialization within the bioscience and technology sectors.

As you know, I am working diligently to encourage the major research institutions in New York State to fast-track commercialization of academic research to create jobs. Accelerate Long Island, a collaborative initiative between Long Island's business, academic, and government leaders, proposes to focus the resources of the region -- world-class research and a highly-skilled workforce -- to create economic development in the regional bioscience industry. For the first time in the history of this region, a regional innovation cluster is forming around core institutions at the forefront of biomedical research - Brookhaven National Laboratory, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, North Shore - LIJ Health System's Feinstein Institute, Hofstra University, and the lead applicant, Stony Brook Unviersity. I strongly believe this new collaboration can fulfill President Obama's goal to fast-track job creation through commercialization of America's world-class universities and research centers. All four of these institutions are within 100 miles of one another and they will focus on capitalizing on the research enterprises of these preeminent institutions to foster cooperative opportunities.

The diverse scientific base of these academic institutions will facilitate the identification and maturation of promising platform biomedical diagnostics and therapeutics, the rapid physical and fiscal growth of bioscience start-up companies, and the formation of a uniquely trained workforce to lead the Long Island region to the forefront of the health sciences industries. As individual institutions, their track record speaks for itself - research scientists affiliated with these institutions have been awarded 19 Nobel Prizes and have contributed to the establishment of more than forty-seven companies and dozens of lifesaving biomedical products over the last two decades. Working as a collaborative, these institutions have unprecedented potential for advancement.

With funding, the Center for Biotechnology and Accelerate Long Island will commercialize bioscience technologies developed at academic institutions, prepare qualified U.S. students and workers to enter careers in the bioscience industry, and provide opportunities for companies and entrepreneurs to leverage the regional bioscience industry cluster more effectively. I applaud them for its foresight, and I sincerely hope the application meets with your approval.

Thank you for your consideration. For additional information, please to do not hesitate to contact me.

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