New York Blog

New York City: A Great Place to Study Science

I recently attended a meeting at the NIH, in which a lot of excellent researchers from the NYC area spoke. Inspired by their success, I thought I deviate from what I hope to be the ultimate goal of making this blog a center for New York science news and cultural events, and talk about the strengths NYC possesses as a hub for scientific research and training in both the physical and life sciences. There are many excellent academic institutions in the greater New York City area, which support a unique climate of scientific development in a variety of subjects. Programs offered in New York are some of the best in the country, providing excellent training from top universities. Here, I will mention a few of the more unique areas of study in NYC for both the new and seasoned scientist.

You may be aware of the NIH initiative for translational research that began in 2006. Originally, 12 universities were awarded Clinical and Translational Science Awards (CTSAs) to help eliminate the barriers between clinical and basic scientists and improve the bench-to-bedside nature of research and clinical applications. CTSA institutions also offer comprehensive Patient Oriented Research (POR) and pre-doctoral training programs in order to prepare young clinicians and scientists for careers in translational research. In NYC, two CTSAs to Columbia and Rockefeller Universities were among the original awardees in 2006. Since that time, Weill Cornell Medical College (2007) and Albert Einstein College of Medicine (2008) received CTSAs, making NYC a major hub for translational research in the United States.

NYC also offers some of the top specialty research programs in the country. I need to plug my most favorite specialty program in the city, the Institute of Human Nutrition (IHN). In 2007, the Chronicle for Higher Education ranked it as the top nutrition program in the country. Here, students receive training in a variety of nutrition related fields, such as obesity, atherosclerosis and lipid metabolism, diabetes, and cancer. The M.S. program is a non-terminal degree, which targets students who are looking to attend more graduate school in the future. The Ph.D. program offers more comprehensive training in Nutrition Science and related fields.

The NYC area also offers a variety of specialty research centers. One of particular interest is the Center for the Study of Hepatitis C established by The Rockefeller University, Weill Medical College of Cornell University, and New York-Presbyterian Hospital in 2000. This center if the first of it’s kind in the tri-state area and it is particularly special in that it is committed to multidisciplinary research. It goes beyond patient care by running clinical trials, carrying out basic science research, and facilitating education and outreach. This center, among many other unique opportunities for scientific research and education in NYC, makes options for scientists virtually limitless in this city.

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