Mayor Giuliani Announces
Task Force on Biomedical Research
and Technology at Audubon

New York’s Mayor, Rudolph Giuliani, talks with Dr. Herbert Pardes (left), former vice president of Health Sciences, and Dr. George Rupp (right), president of Columbia University, after delivering a speech at the Russ Berrie Pavilion.

New York City Mayor Rudolph Giuliani selected the Russ Berrie Medical Science Pavilion in the Audubon Biomedical Science and Technology Park as the site of an announcement of plans to launch a special task force to suggest ways to improve New York’s standing in biomedical research and technology.

“New York used to be the nation’s unrivaled leader in biomedical research, attracting 15.1 percent of all NIH funding back in 1981,” Mayor Giuliani said. “Today, we’re no longer first. We rank third.”

Recently, other regions in the United States have surpassed New York in research funding, particularly in grants from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). It is a commonly held belief that New York’s many renowned medical schools and hospitals must work together and with local government if the city is to return to being the nation’s leader in medical research and funding. One way that this philosophy is being put into practice is the Mayor’s Task Force on Biomedical Research and Development.

Dr. Herbert Pardes, newly appointed president of New York-Presbyterian Hospital and former vice president for health sciences and dean of the Faculty of Medicine at Columbia University, is chairman of the Mayor’s Task Force. “Biomedical research is one of the strongest areas of opportunity for attracting funding, founding new biotechnology companies, creating jobs, and stimulating the city’s economy, while simultaneously producing the major new scientific discoveries that will lead to revolutionary lifesaving treatments,” he said in praise of the mayor’s decision.

Although Columbia has experienced growth in NIH funding, this is an exception to a downward trend in the region over the last 15 years.

The task force will make recommendations to the mayor on how New York can strengthen and improve its standing in biomedical research and technology—the ultimate goal being to restore New York as the nation’s leader in this area.

[Go to start of Contents]