$500,000 In State Funding Sponsored By Rath Bolsters Work Of UB Institute For Lasers, Photonics And Biophotonics

BUFFALO, N.Y. -- Prospects for an emerging laser and photonics industry in Western New York have brightened, thanks to a $500,000 allocation from New York State, sponsored by State Senator Mary Lou Rath, to the University at Buffalo's Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics.

"We are extremely grateful to Senator Rath for her strong support of our institute as a means of enhancing this new high-technology industry in Western New York," said Paras Prasad, Ph.D., SUNY Distinguished Professor of Chemistry and Physics in UB's College of Arts and Sciences and executive director of the Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics. Prasad also holds appointments in the UB Department of Electrical Engineering and the UB Department of Medicine.

"With this support, Senator Rath has demonstrated her vision for a Western New York region that generates economic growth through the development of high-paying, high-technology opportunities," Prasad added. "The institute shares this vision, and with these funds, expects to be one of the leaders in the region creating some of the most promising of those opportunities."

"The work that Dr. Prasad and his colleagues do is considered among the best in the world," said State Senator Mary Lou Rath. "I feel privileged to be able to assist them as they continue to make progress in so many vital areas. The Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics is a tremendous asset to Western New York, both economically, and as a leader in searching for medical cures."

"Senator Rath has been a tireless and highly effective advocate in the state legislature for the University at Buffalo," said William R. Greiner, president of the University at Buffalo. "Her support for the Institute for Lasers, Photonics and Biophotonics is just the latest example of her commitment to higher education and to partnerships that promote economic growth in Western New York, such as this institute. We appreciate her long-range vision for UB and her outstanding leadership on this and so many other initiatives."

According to Prasad, who conceived the idea for the institute, a significant portion of the funding will be used to target technologies that will positively impact regional economic growth. This will involve taking them from the fundamental research and development stage, through prototype fabrication, scale-up strategies and cost optimization and into productive partnerships with local industry.

Prasad said the funding will be of great value in readying these technologies for the marketplace, resulting in the creation of new high-tech jobs. The funds also will provide the institute with resources to cooperate and collaborate with local companies in ways that will enhance their competitive advantage in lasers, telecommunications, nanotechnology and biotechnology.

Two technologies developed at Prasad's lab have the most significant potential for immediate commercialization with only a moderate investment.

The first is a plastic infiltration technology that allows for colored dyes and coatings to be infused into many kinds of plastic products after they have been manufactured, a potentially enormous cost-savings to manufacturers, who currently must dye the plastic during the manufacturing process. Potential applications include eyeglasses, contact lenses, fluorescent toys, electronic displays, flexible metallic conductors and large-area panels for solar energy.

Another promising technology with moderate investment requirements allows for production of a new generation of highly secure identification cards. These cards provide tamper-proof identification and encoding of data beneath their surfaces that can be read only by specialized lasers. Applications range from government and military uses to medical ID cards for patients.

A third technology being enhanced by institute researchers that could be commercialized with moderate investment is the production of computer-automated laser sculptures, where etchings within the interior of a transparent solid such as glass are produced by a laser.

Other institute advances that will take longer to commercialize, but which will have a major impact in their respective fields include:

Data Storage: The institute has patented techniques and materials that allow for the three-dimensional optical storage of data on high-capacity CDs in layers less than one-tenth of the thickness of a human hair.

Optical Amplifiers for Telecommunications: The institute has developed a new approach that uses multi-component sol-gel processing to produce materials capable of amplifying optical signals to the highest levels attainable.

Novel Photodynamic Cancer Therapy: The institute has received a patent on two-photon materials that allow for use in photodynamic therapy to treat deeper tumors than currently is possible. The institute is collaborating on the work with Roswell Park Cancer Institute.

Tracking of selectively targeted chemotherapeutic agents: In a collaboration with Nobel Laureate Andrew Schally of Tulane University and the VA Hospital in New Orleans, the institute developed new fluorescent dyes that, when attached to biological carriers, such as drugs, provide high-resolution, real-time imaging of living cells and tissues and better targeting of drugs to specific tissues.

3D bioimaging that will allow for a range of new applications, from development of better bonding agents for dental restorations to visualizations of living cells invaded by pathogenic microorganisms.

Since the institute's inception last fall, more than 20 UB faculty members have from across the university have become affiliated with the institute, providing for truly multidisciplinary interaction. With their combined expertise in medicine, dentistry, microbiology, immunology, biochemistry, physiology, material science, imaging technology, spectroscopy, microelectronics, laser design, photonics and chemical and electrical engineering, institute-affiliated faculty members are able to make faster and more product-oriented progress than they would be able to on their own.

They are collaborating on new projects geared toward developing new systems and products in drug delivery, bioimaging, artificial vision, digital mammography, nanomedicine and cancer therapy.

Other areas of investigation being pursued by researchers include: compact solid-state lasers for consumer, industrial, medical, cosmetic and dental applications; the development of molecular structures, suprastructures and nanostructures with unique properties for use in molecular computers; nanometer-sized magnetic particles, or "nanoclinics," having applications for diagnosing and treating cancer that carry various substances, such as drugs or genetic information; bioelectronic/biophotonic interface circuitry that could lead to an implantable microprocessor-based device under the eye's retina to gather information necessary to construct a photosensitive implanted device that could partially restore vision.

Major companies with which the institute has formed or is forming partnerships include Eastman Kodak, Corning Inc., Bausch & Lomb and BASF. Regional companies include Laser Photonics Technology, Diamond Cutters of Western New York, Great Lakes Orthodontics, Ltd. And Pixel Physics of Rochester.

The institute also is forming partnerships with the following academic photonics research facilities: the Institute of Optics at the University of Rochester; the Center for Advanced Thin Film Technology at SUNY at Albany; the Center for Integrated Electronics and Electronics Manufacturing at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute and the Center for Advanced Technology for Ultrafast Photonic Materials and Applications at City College of the City University of New York.

Close collaborations also have been developed with Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Hauptman-Woodward Medical Research Institute, Rochester General Hospital Laser Center, Photonics Research Ontario, Photonics Industries Association of New York, Rochester Regional Photonics Cluster, as well as with other institutions worldwide.