Cornell has secured a 10-year, $10 million grant renewal to continue work aimed at spurring economic impact and job growth through applied research, development and commercialization of breakthrough technologies.

Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR) program has renewed its grant support for Cornell’s Center for Advanced Technology (CAT). Empire State Development announced the funding July 9.

Cornell’s CAT, the Center for Life Science Enterprise, is housed in the Cornell Institute of Biotechnology and provides funding and support for partnerships between university researchers and New York state companies that lead to novel high-tech products. It specializes in the life sciences and biotechnology and offers programming geared to technology commercialization.

Cornell’s Center for Life Science Enterprise is one of 15 CAT centers at universities across the state charged with transforming state investment into economic growth.

“This renewed investment from New York state affirms the vital role Cornell plays in advancing biotechnology innovation,” said Gary Koretzky, interim vice provost for research. “It allows us to build on a strong track record of academic-industry partnerships that accelerate the translation of research into real-world solutions, supporting both economic growth and public impact. I appreciate New York State’s partnership with Cornell and investment in our collective future.”

Since its establishment in 1983, the center has funded over 1,050 life-science research projects across Cornell. It typically awards eight to 10 grants per year of $50,000-$75,000 each to Cornell researchers, whose industry partners are required to make an equal investment in the project. Through these awards, the center has facilitated the transfer of Cornell inventions to the marketplace in areas from human and animal medicine to agriculture, chemistry and the environment. Over the last 10 years of operation, the Cornell CAT has contributed to the creation or retention of over 420 life-science sector jobs.

These projects have benefited the state’s economy through job creation and retention and have created revenue streams to Cornell researchers, their labs, the university and the state, Koretzky said.

“NYSTAR’s Centers for Advanced Technology are vital to our strategic efforts to grow New York’s economy and the state’s greater innovation ecosystem,” Hope Knight, president CEO and commissioner at Empire State Development, said in an announcement. “By investing in the industries of tomorrow, New Yorkers benefit today through dynamic partnerships that help to create new jobs, generate more revenues and encourage more companies to establish a footprint in communities all throughout the state.”

“We are grateful to NYSTAR for enabling us to continue bridging the gap between academic technology and commercial success,” said Matthew DeLisa, the William L. Lewis Professor of Engineering in the Robert F. Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering, director of the Cornell Institute of Biotechnology and principal investigator at the Cornell CAT. “The achievements of CAT-supported biotech ventures underscore Cornell’s robust ecosystem for transforming early-stage life science discoveries into thriving commercial enterprises.”

The center currently collaborates with companies including Regeneron and Balchem and has previously worked with GE and Bausch & Lomb, leveraging industry partnerships that fund university research and can produce large-scale economic returns, Koretzky said.

“Working with the CAT has been key in linking our SUNY spin-out with the Ithaca startup ecosystem as well as Cornell researchers, allowing us to further develop our technical innovations while building partnerships critical for commercial pilots,” said Chris Thomas, founder and CEO of RETRN Bio. The startup works to enable the fiber-packaging industry to displace toxic, outdated plastics with a new class of tunable biodegradable coatings for food packaging.

The center also partially supports the Center for Life Science Ventures incubator, enabling entrepreneurs to develop viable life science companies with high rates of success, with infrastructure, mentorship and an entrepreneur-in-residence program.

Further, the center supports life science companies across New York state through its internship program, in collaboration with Entrepreneurship at Cornell. The program funds 50% of summer wages for Cornell students placed with life science startups and growing firms.

Leveraging Cornell’s broad expertise, the center connects projects across Weill Cornell Medicine, Cornell Tech, Cornell AgriTech and the Ithaca campus, fostering a networked approach to life science innovation.

As part of New York’s broader economic development strategy, the Center for Advanced Technology model continues to prove that public investment in research, when coupled with real-world execution, can drive growth across sectors, from agtech and veterinary medicine to therapeutics and biotechnology, said Ben Verschueren, executive director at NYSTAR.

“New York state’s universities have some of the greatest researchers and facilities in the world. The Centers for Advanced Technologies program exists so that private industry can tap into these resources as they develop game-changing ideas,” Verschueren said. “I’m eager to see the new technologies that result from their work – innovations that will help shape our regional economies for years to come.”

About Empire State Development. Empire State Development is New York's chief economic development agency, and promotes business growth, job creation, and greater economic opportunity throughout the state. With offices in each of the state's 10 regions, ESD oversees the Regional Economic Development Councils, supports broadband equity through the ConnectALL office, and is growing the workforce of tomorrow through the Office of Strategic Workforce Development. The agency engages with emerging and next generation industries like clean energy and semiconductor manufacturing looking to grow in New York State, operates a network of assistance centers to help small businesses grow and succeed, and promotes the state's world class tourism destinations through I LOVE NY. For more information, please visit esd.ny.gov, and connect with ESD on LinkedIn, Facebook and X. 

About ESD’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation (NYSTAR). Empire State Development’s Division of Science, Technology and Innovation – known as NYSTAR – advances technology innovation and commercialization in New York State. NYSTAR offers programs that assist companies from start-up through maturity, leveraging the state’s unparalleled investment in world-class technology assets and expertise. It provides about $80 million annually in funding to support over 80 centers that provide direct assistance to New York State companies — a network of vital assets for enabling technology — and manufacturing-led growth and job creation. NYSTAR and its partners are proud to contribute to New York’s leadership in the global innovation economy. For more information, visit esd.ny.gov/nystar.