The participating institutions will expand their programs in cell and developmental biology, with an emphasis on developing and applying techniques for chemical intervention in cellular processes and real-time imaging of living cells. The professor of applied and engineering physics is involved in collaborative projects on new molecular species for micro-fabrication and cell growth and in developing the use of microfabrication in biology. More than 20 faculty members from each of the institutions played a role in developing the program. Some initial steps have already been taken, including a multi-institutional scientific seminar on chemical biology hosted by Rockefeller. A second seminar on computational biology will be held July 22 at Cornell's Ithaca campus.
Joint recruitment is also under way for specialists in bioinformatics.
The joint faculty recruitments will occur over the next five to 10 years. These joint appointees will have full faculty privileges at each of the partner institutions. Visiting investigator programs and enhanced telecommunications links will facilitate collaborations among investigators based in Ithaca and Manhattan. In addition, plans are being developed for a shared graduate program. The partner institutions will create core facilities for fundamental technologies such as high-performance computing, physical analysis of molecular structure, light and electron microscopy, DNA sequencing and other tools for genetic analysis and the broad range of chemical techniques that are applied to biology.