Shirley Ann Jackson, PhD, President of Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, Eric Nestler, MD, PhD, Director of The Friedman Brain Institute, and Andrew Kimball, president of the New York City Economic Development Corporation, sign a ceremonial agreement at the launch of the Center for Engineering and Precision Medicine.
The Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and the Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute on May 12 announced the opening of the Center for Engineering and Precision Medicine (CEPM), forming a new venture to bridge engineering and biomedical science expertise between the two organizations.
The center, located at 619 West 54th Street in Manhattan, focuses on three research areas—neuroengineering, immunoengineering, and regenerative and reparative medicine. Its footprint includes spaces for wet and dry laboratories, as well as offices for faculty and researchers.
In addition to research, CEPM will develop a joint PhD in engineering and precision medicine, and ultimately master’s degrees and certificate programs. Enrollment could occur as early as the fall of 2023, said Jonathan Dordick, PhD, Institute Professor of Chemical and Biological Engineering at Rensselaer and Co-Director of the Center.
The Center is the latest development borne from a partnership between Mount Sinai and Rensselaer—dating to 2013—that has secured more than $70 million in shared research funding. Milestone achievements have included an artificial pancreas system developed by the two institutions and a number of advances in improving treatment and health infrastructure during the COVID-19 pandemic.
“We identified that there was a need in New York City and the state for such a collaboration to be the foundation of a new path of innovation between engineering and precision medicine,” said Priti Balchandani, PhD, Professor of Diagnostic, Molecular and Interventional Radiology, Neuroscience, and Psychiatry at Icahn Mount Sinai and Co-Director of the Center.
FAST FACTS
- Project planned since: 2018
- Footprint: 14,000 usable square feet
- Faculty size: Mount Sinai and Rensselaer jointly hope to recruit 20 faculty members within five years for the center
- Planned academic programs: PhD in Engineering and Precision Medicine jointly awarded by Mount Sinai and Rensselaer, master’s programs, and certificate programs in entrepreneurship and other areas relevant to advanced education at the interface of medicine and engineering.
The creation of the Center sets the stage for engineers to consider the needs of biomedical researchers to develop tools, systems, and infrastructure needed to address unanswered questions, Dr. Dordick said. “As a field, we’ve been asking how engineering can play a closer role at each stage of development in biomedical science from bench to bedside.”
The Center will also serve as a hub for industry partners and collaborators. Its “Development Labs” will be working with Mount Sinai Innovation Partners, the team focused on commercializing innovations from Mount Sinai Health System, on technology transfers with industry partners, as well as fostering the creation of startups, Dr. Balchandani said.
“This partnership with Rensselaer is truly a first where not only are two organizations coming together for research and academic excellence,” she noted, “it is also creating a partnership that will augment translational work in the city.”
Mount Sinai is also growing its presence in the area by building laboratory spaces in a facility on 11th Avenue, adjacent to the Center, for the Mount Sinai West campus.
“Ultimately, the goal is to develop new innovations that will benefit patients,” Dr. Dordick said. “The work at the Center cannot start soon enough.”