MANHASSET, N.Y.– During a special event, The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research, the research home of Northwell Health, and Governor Kathy Hochul today announced the completion of a $35 million, 20,000-square-foot renovation project meant to energize future breakthroughs in bioelectronic medicine. The state-of-the-art research space in Manhasset was completed through a funding grant given by New York’s Empire State Development (ESD). Gov. Hochul also announced a new $10 million ESD grant awarded to the Feinstein Institutes for a second phase of lab renovations.
Michael Dowling, CEO of Northwell Health, and Kevin J. Tracey, MD, president and CEO of the Feinstein Institutes, formally unveiled the renovated lab space during a tour with Gov. Hochul, along with Hope Knight, the Empire State Development President CEO and Commissioner, and Kevin Law, the Empire State Development Board Chairman. Other esteemed guests at the ceremony included Assembly Member Gina L. Sillitti and Senator Anna M. Kaplan.
“New York is leading the way in medical innovation, and the Long Island Investment Fund will support life-saving research on the cutting edge of the life sciences industry,” Gov. Hochul said. “Our investment in the Institute of Bioelectronic Medicine is already improving the lives of everyday New Yorkers, and the additional Long Island Investment Fund award announced today reaffirms our commitment to remaining a national leader in the health and medical research fields. I am proud to support the Feinstein Institutes and their research, which will lead to life-changing medicine and treatments that will improve the lives of New Yorkers on Long Island and across the State.”
The Feinstein Institutes, the global scientific home of bioelectronic medicine, is comprised of 50 research labs, 3,000 clinical research studies and 5,000 researchers and staff. The new lab space will spark continued innovative research and recruit the brightest medical researchers to New York.
“At Northwell, we strive to improve the health of the communities we serve and are committed to providing the highest quality clinical care, educating the current and future generations of healthcare professionals, and searching for new advances in medicine at the Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research,” said Michael Dowling. “With the existing, and now additional, support of Gov. Hochul, the Empire State Development and our generous donors, we will continue to provide the world with scientific insight as we continue to lead in bioelectronic medicine.”
The renovated lab includes 1,385 linear square feet of wet-lab bench space, 13 private offices, multiple tissue culture rooms, cold storage rooms, shared equipment rooms, fume hoods, 100 workstations for researchers and administrators, conference rooms and a fully furnished break room. In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the renovation also created a Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) facility, allowing new research into infectious diseases and other complex viruses.
“Day in and day out our scientists and staff work tirelessly to research and develop novel therapies for cancer, diabetes, obesity, lupus, among others, and we continue to lead in bioelectronic medicine research,” said Dr. Tracey. “We are grateful to Gov. Hochul and the Empire State Development for their generous support. We can now hire additional investigators, expand our research capabilities and solidify Nassau County and the Feinstein Institutes as the destination for scientific discoveries.”
The revamped facility will allow the Feinstein Institutes to hire 13 new principal investigators and support hiring 100 new staff, including research assistants and administrators. The research will allow the Feinstein Institutes to continue to create companies that generate even more jobs and economic growth, including leveraging this research into intellectual property, which is licensed to the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and medical device industries.
The team that helped design and renovate the space included Suffolk Construction, Flad Architects and Lizardos Engineering.
“It has been an honor and privilege to be entrusted by Feinstein Institutes to manage construction of this sophisticated, state-of-the-art lab facility,” said John Fish, chairman and CEO of Suffolk Construction. “We are particularly proud to deliver a building that will facilitate life-saving research to cure disease and improve health outcomes while bolstering New York’s rapidly expanding life sciences market.”
Sharon Laudisi, a patient from Westbury, NY, was also acknowledged at the press conference. She benefitted from bioelectronic medicine research at the Feinstein Institutes. After suffering an injury from a car accident, with the help of bioelectronic medicine, she restored movement and sensation.
The Feinstein Institutes owns more than 245 patents in over 80 distinct fields of technology and has spun out more than a dozen biotech start-ups in the past decade. The Feinstein Institutes’ research studies have been named finalists in Fast Company’s World Changing Ideas Awards for two years in a row and a recent report found that 26 Feinstein Institutes researchers are among the top 100,000 most cited scientists in the world and Feinstein Institutes research is shared throughout the global biomedical science community by producing more than 1,700 medical journal publications each year.
