Vision and Legacy
A central priority of Far Above…The Campaign for Cornell, the New Life Sciences Initiative is a $650 million investment in the life sciences faculty, students, and facilities behind some of Cornell's—and this century's—most important discoveries.
At stake are insights into the basic functions of life, as well as breakthroughs for human and animal health, the world's food supply, the environment, and the ethical and social aspects of science.
To ensure success in this new era of biology, Cornell aims to increase endowed and current-use support for:
- Faculty, students, and programs in the Weill Institute for Cell and Molecular Biology and the Department of Biomedical Engineering
- Approximately 120 new junior and senior faculty positions across the university
- At least 100 new graduate student fellowships across the university
- Research, teaching, and social spaces in the newly opened Weill Hall
- Seed grants and start-up research funding
As we move into the 21st century, interdisciplinary bridges highlight the concept of 'one biology, one medicine, and one university,' where advances in one scientific discipline at Cornell resonate in others and manifest themselves as means to improve the human condition.
This is the biggest academic initiative in Cornell's history. Today, over 500 faculty members from across the university are connected to the life sciences. They are unified by strategic leadership from the university provost, vice provost for life sciences Stephen Kresovich, and Weill Cornell Medical College dean Anthony Gotto.
The New Life Sciences Initiative is building on Cornell's historical strengths in ecology and evolutionary biology, neurobiology and behavior, nutritional sciences, plant sciences, veterinary medicine, physical sciences, and engineering.
It is also enhancing complementary strengths in cell and molecular biology, biomedical engineering, and computational biology.
A New Era
Nobel Prize-winning Cornell physicist Hans Bethe referred to the current era as the golden age of biology. Others call it the genomics revolution, the age of the genome, the biorevolution. What inspires these evocations of new eras, of epic change?
In 1990, scientists around the world teamed up to map the human genome. By 1999 they had sequenced the first human chromosome, and by 2003 they had completed mapping the entire human genome—an accelerated feat made possible by significant increases in computational power. This landmark achievement followed on the heels of successes in mapping the genetic codes of numerous other species of plants and animals, including many important to humans.
This vast new body of information, along with cutting-edge tools and methods needed to analyze it, is transforming how we understand life.
The New Life Sciences Initiative has its roots in this great phase of scientific expansion. It began in 1998 as the Cornell Genomics Initiative, a faculty-driven effort to maximize Cornell’s collaborative ties and impact in the unfolding era of genomics advances. Its success expanded into a university-level priority in 2002: the New Life Sciences Initiative. Today, Cornell's heightened emphasis on its global land-grant mission has reasserted the New Life Sciences Initiative’s strategic importance.
The Cornell Distinction
Cornell University is committed to translational research: discoveries that can be translated into innovations that advance the public good. It is equally committed to basic research that advances knowledge at the frontiers of intellectual inquiry.
These two missions intertwine in Cornell's life sciences fields. Together, they create a formidable research and educational engine that is making a broad and significant impact.
At Cornell, high-impact collaboration isn't new. The university has been challenging boundaries from the beginning, when Ezra Cornell founded Cornell as "an institution where any person can find instruction in any study." New advances are constantly emerging from these partnerships. For example:
- Biomedical engineers are teaming with doctors at Weill Cornell Medical College to create and test innovations like less invasive surgical devices and artificial tissue.
- Computational biologists are helping geneticists unlock the codes of DNA—allowing a clearer view of evolution, health, and disease across species.
- Physicists and engineers in nanobiotechnology are fabricating molecule-sized devices that can examine and treat disease at the cellular level.
- Cell and molecular biologists are using advances in imaging and computational technologies to delve into the structures and processes of healthy and diseased cells.
- Scientists across the life sciences spectrum are working with business and legal experts to deliver their ideas to the marketplace for wide application and benefit.
These directions demonstrate the power and promise of Cornell’s life sciences. But to realize its full potential, the university must deepen its impact even further. Meeting this challenge is the goal of the New Life Sciences Initiative.