John R. Oishei Foundation Makes Largest Grant Ever to Buffalo Life Sciences Complex

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
March 6, 2003

Contact Information:
Jennifer McDonough, University at Buffalo – (716) 645-2925
Cindy Eller, Roswell Park Cancer Institute – (716) 845-8770
Finley Greene, Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute – (716) 856-9600
Matt Enstice, Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus – (716) 843-7512

BUFFALO, N.Y. – The John R. Oishei Foundation today announced grants totaling $9 million to the three partners in the Buffalo Life Sciences Complex (BLSC).

The University at Buffalo (UB) will receive an additional $2 million, and Roswell Park Cancer Institute (RPCI) and Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute (HWI) will each receive $3.5 million.

The award, which is contingent on the BLSC institutions obtaining the necessary commitments to reach their respective funding goals, is the largest in the Oishei Foundation’s 63-year history.

It has been made to HWI, Roswell Park and UB as a partnership under the auspices of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus (BNMC). The three organizations, which have a long history of collaborative research, are now cooperating in the design and development of an integrated, three-building life sciences research center – the Buffalo Life Sciences Complex, to be built at Ellicott and Virginia streets.

The HWI and Roswell Park awards will be dedicated primarily to facilities development. The money granted to the university will go toward the recruitment, salaries and research of top-level scientists at the UB Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics. An earlier grant to UB for approximately $1.5 million was used to support the salaries and research of Jeffrey Skolnick, the center’s director, and two other scientists recruited with Skolnick from the Danforth Plant Science Center in St. Louis. With these recent commitments, the John R. Oishei Foundation becomes the largest foundation supporter of “The Campaign for UB: Generation to Generation,” which has a goal of $250 million.

“The foundation has been a strong supporter of this collaborative project from its inception,” said James M. Wadsworth, chair of the John R. Oishei Foundation Board of Directors. “The foundation has also provided support to the BNMC for its initial three years of existence and has provided a major grant to HWI to establish the Structural Biology Center in 1998. We believe this collaborative project is a major positive step in establishing Buffalo as a leader in the life sciences arena.”

This generous award from the Oishei Foundation bolsters current fund-raising efforts for the BLSC partners. The University at Buffalo, Roswell Park and Hauptman-Woodward each seeks additional funds to fulfill critical fund-raising priorities including facilities, faculty recruitment and research support to complement existing private and publicly generated contributions.

The Buffalo Life Sciences Complex will consist of three new buildings adding more than 400,000 square feet of state-of-the-art research space to the BNMC. Construction will begin in the summer of 2003. The complex will house the Hauptman-Woodward Center for Structural Biology, the Roswell Park Center for Genetics and Pharmacology, and the University at Buffalo Center of Excellence in Bioinformatics. The BLSC will sponsor life sciences research designed to improve human health by developing new therapies to treat and cure disease.

“This landmark award from the Oishei Foundation underscores the foundation’s dedication to Buffalo, to the institutions of the Buffalo Life Sciences Complex and to the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus,” said Thomas R. Beecher, Jr., chair of the BNMC Board of Directors, in praise of the Oishei Foundation’s generous support.

Echoing Mr. Beecher’s comments, David C. Hohn, M.D., Roswell Park president and CEO, remarked, “Today’s announcement is wonderful news for Western New York and for all of us associated with the Buffalo Life Sciences Complex. The John R. Oishei Foundation’s philanthropic support and vision have enhanced the quality of life in our community for more than 60 years, and this very generous grant clearly reflects their commitment to the future of health care and life sciences research in Western New York.”

Dr. Hohn continued, “On behalf of Roswell Park Cancer Institute, I want to express our heartfelt appreciation for such an extraordinary gift. With this grant, I am happy to report that Roswell Park’s “Horizons of Hope” campaign under the great leadership of Anne & Richard Gioia and David & Susan Zebro now has raised more than $8.6 million toward the goal of $20 million for our new Center for Genetics and Pharmacology.”

George T. DeTitta, Ph.D., principal research scientist, executive director and CEO of Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, commented, “For many years, the Oishei Foundation has been an avid supporter of science and development in Western New York. At Hauptman-Woodward, their past generosity has allowed us to expand, not only our research, but our staff as well. This new gift, for the development of our new center, is just the beginning of what we hope will be a lifetime of growth and discovery. We cannot thank them enough.”

UB President William R. Greiner thanked the Oishei Foundation, noting that the award to the three institutions, “continues in the Oishei Foundation’s distinguished tradition of philanthropic leadership in our Western New York community.”

Mr. Greiner said, “The groundbreaking research performed at the Buffalo Life Sciences Complex will go a long way toward carrying out the larger mission of the Buffalo Niagara Medical Campus, making our Buffalo region an internationally important center for biomedicine, biotechnology, and revolutionary health care. Together with our research partners at the Roswell Park Cancer Institute and the Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, UB is proud to be at the forefront of cutting-edge biomedical research that will have a profound impact on medicine and health care in the twenty-first century.”

UB, Roswell Park and HWI are working to expand their current research and development activities while fostering partnerships with the local, national and international business communities to enhance and promote Buffalo Niagara’s economic, social and cultural development.

The John R. Oishei Foundation is committed to enhancing the quality of life for Buffalo area residents by supporting education, health care, scientific research, and the cultural, social, civic and other charitable needs of the community. The Foundation was established in 1940 by John R. Oishei, founder of Trico Products Corporation, one of the world’s leading manufacturers of windshield wiper systems.

The BNMC was founded in April 2001 by the University at Buffalo, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Kaleida Health, Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute and the Buffalo Medical Group Foundation. Its mission is to cultivate a 21st century, world-class medical center – on 100 acres in downtown Buffalo bounded by Michigan Avenue & Main Street, and North Street & Goodell Street – by facilitating cooperation among its founding institutions. The BNMC is currently implementing a collaborative master plan developed in partnership with Chan Krieger and Associates from Cambridge, Massachusetts.

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