Mayor Eric Adams of New York City, Governor Kathy Hochul of New York, and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative (CZI) have unveiled their collaborative vision for the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub New York (CZ Biohub NY), an innovative biomedical research center set to receive a substantial nearly $300 million investment from both public and private sectors. The goal of this ambitious endeavor is to foster collaboration among prominent research institutions, addressing significant scientific challenges.
CZ Biohub NY will bring together the expertise of Columbia University, The Rockefeller University, and Yale University, with a particular focus on early disease prevention, detection, and treatment. This will encompass areas such as ovarian and pancreatic cancers, neurodegenerative diseases, including Parkinson’s and Alzheimer’s, as well as aging and autoimmunity. Furthermore, this initiative aims to fortify New York City’s burgeoning life sciences sector, contributing to job creation and economic growth in the region.
The Chan Zuckerberg Initiative is injecting $250 million into the Biohub, while the New York City Economic Development Corporation (NYCEDC) and Empire State Development (ESD) are each contributing $10 million. The New York City metropolitan area has solidified its position as the leading regional life sciences hub in the United States, boasting nearly 150,000 jobs and 5,100 businesses that generated over $23 billion in wages in the past year.
Mayor Adams emphasized the strength of partnerships between city and state governments, the private sector, and top-tier universities, lauding New York City’s status as a life sciences powerhouse. He underlined the role of the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub New York in breaking new biomedical barriers.
NYC is a life sciences powerhouse thanks to our partnerships with @GovKathyHochul and other local and state partners.
Thanks to a nearly $300 million joint effort with the @ChanZuckerberg, our new Chan Zuckerberg Biohub New York will break even more biomedical barriers.
Learn…
— Mayor Eric Adams (@NYCMayor) October 18, 2023
Governor Hochul highlighted the potential of the Biohub to revolutionize early disease prevention, detection, and treatment. This initiative, bolstered by the collaboration with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative and Mayor Adams, positions New York State on the cusp of significant medical breakthroughs.
The CZI co-founder and co-CEO, Mark Zuckerberg, outlined the overarching scientific objective of cellular engineering, where immune cells are engineered to detect specific diseases and encode their molecular makeup for diagnostic and therapeutic purposes. The ultimate aim is to create a versatile tool or platform for scientists to study and advance specific disease treatments.
Priscilla Chan, co-founder and co-CEO of CZI, expressed excitement about the potential for the New York Biohub to detect and treat diseases in their early stages, including cancers and neurodegenerative conditions. By bioengineering immune cells to scout, report, and repair cellular damage, this initiative aims to transform the landscape of medical research.
The New York Biohub joins the Chan Zuckerberg Biohub Network, which includes the original Biohub in San Francisco, a second facility in Chicago, and the Chan Zuckerberg Institute for Advanced Biological Imaging in Redwood City, California.
Led by Professor Andrea Califano of Columbia University, the CZ Biohub NY will focus on developing new technologies to characterize and bioengineer immune cells. The goal is to create disease-specific “cellular endoscopes” capable of detecting early disease indicators, monitoring cellular changes, and addressing diseases before they become untreatable. This novel approach will be applied to challenging conditions like ovarian and pancreatic cancers and neurodegenerative diseases.
