New Partnership to Share Key Research Facilities

Albany Medical College and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) have signed a formal agreement allowing faculty from each institution reciprocal access to the other’s core facilities for research purposes. Research is a critical enterprise at both institutions, two of the leaders of biomedical, biotechnology, and bioengineering studies in the region.

Scientists and clinicians at Albany Medical College seek to identify better, more effective treatments for a wide range of diseases and ensure that discoveries made in the lab are translated into innovations at patients’ bedsides, while scientists and engineers at facilities at RPI, such as the Shirley Ann Jackson Ph.D. Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies (CBIS), perform fundamental, applied, and translational research that aims to mitigate disease and address the most pressing challenges facing human health. The Center for Economic Growth has reported that together, the two institutions accounted for one-third—$22.6 million of the $68.9 million—in National Institutes of Health research grants awarded to Capital Region firms, institutions, and nonprofits during fiscal year 2024.

“This new partnership reflects our shared commitment to accelerating research through collaboration, efficiency, and innovation,” said Alan S. Boulos, MD ’94, The Lynne and Mark D. Groban, MD ’67 Distinguished Dean of Albany Medical College. “It also offers a significant opportunity to expand the scope and impact of the biomedical research that’s conducted in the Capital Region, providing more opportunities for our scientists to advance precision medicine and continue their work to develop new medical devices.”

Over the past decade, a number of Albany Medical College and RPI scientists have collaborated on studies that have drawn on the particular technologies and expertise available at each institution. But until now, they have not had access to each other’s facilities for their own research purposes.

“This agreement builds upon the long-standing relationship between RPI and Albany Medical College and enables us to further enhance collaborations between both institutions by providing access to a larger number of equipment and services for all faculty,” said Juergen Hahn, PhD, professor, department head, and director of CBIS at RPI.

The research core facilities at the two institutions have some of the most advanced imaging technologies, molecular biology and flow cytometry instruments, and high-performance computing systems and specialized software tools in the region.

Albany Medical College’s imaging core facility includes a new Nikon AXR MP multiphoton microscope, the only one in the region. “This microscope is a game-changer,” said Margarida Barroso, PhD, professor in the Department of Molecular and Cellular Physiology, who secured a $750,000 grant from the National Institutes of Health to help cover the cost of the microscope. “With two photons and two laser lines, it can produce large, high-definition images extremely fast and is also easy to use.”

Albany Medical College’s core facilities also include a bioinformatics core, dedicated to providing comprehensive bioinformatics support for high-throughput sequencing data analysis, and a flow cytometry core that provides flow cytometry, multiplex cytokine analysis, and histology services.

At RPI, the microscopy core facility includes a super-resolution Leica TCS SP8 STED Microscope, the only one of this kind within a 150-mile radius, and an Infrared (IR) Photo-Induced Force Microscope, the only one available in the Capital Region.

RPI’s 11 state-of-the-art research core facilities are also comprised of facilities dedicated to microbiology and fermentation, nuclear magnetic resonance, analytical biochemistry and nanobiotechnology, proteomics, genomics, and flow cytometry, which has a Cytek Aurora CS Full Spectrum Sorter, also the only one available in the region.

In addition to the instruments and technologies, the agreement allows for shared access to the technical services and expertise unique to each institution. To use the facilities, investigators must be a member of the faculty of Albany Medical College or Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, or under the direct supervision of a faculty member.