Columbia University

Research Centers and Programs

Audubon Biotechnology and Research Park was developed by the university, the state, and the city of New York in an area adjacent to Columbia University Medical Center. The park houses the Mary Woodard Lasker Biomédical Research building, which opened in October 1995 and is home to the Audubon Business Technology Center; the Russ Berrie Medical Science Pavilion, with specialties in diabetes, genetics, and pediatrics; and the Irving Cancer Research Center, which opened in May 2005. The Audubon Business and Technology Center is an incubator for business start—ups for private research and development in biotechnology with laboratories and regulatory and commerce assistance.

The Naomi Berrie Diabetes Center was established in 1997 and moved into the Russ Berrie Medical Science Pavilion in 1998. The center focuses on combining patient- and family-centered care and education with diabetes research. Researchers are working to create insulin—producing islet cells from stem cells because cell therapies using islet cells transplant are in short supply, and cells and stem cells that are differentiated into islet cells may be a new source.

The Herbert Irving Comprehensive Cancer Center builds on Columbia's long history for cancer research. The center provides patient care and conducts basic and clinical research, including research using stem cells. The center's eight research programs are organized into basic research, disease—specific research, and population—based research. Program activities focus on different aspects of cancer, from its molecular and cellular mechanisms through its unique behavior in different tissues to statistical aspects of its occurrence and treatment in large populations. Researchers are working with cord blood stem cells and cancer therapies to expand a rich source of stem and immune cell transplants for childhood leukemia and solid tumors. Another research project includes the genetic mechanisms that control [Page 145]cell division and gene expression in cancer cells and studies how cancer disrupts DNA repair mechanisms and encourages instability.

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