Mission

The New York Structural Biology Center (NYSBC) is a state-of-the-art research center being developed cooperatively by ten outstanding research centers. The Center houses the largest and most advanced cluster of high-field research magnets (NMRs) in the United States in its first phase. An additional phase includes a state-of-the-art cryo Electron Microscopes and sample preparation resources, and will expand with additional microscopes. NYSBC is the organizer for the Participating Research Team at beam lines X4A and X4C at Brookhaven National Laboratory.

Research conducted at the Center will significantly increase our understanding of the role that proteins play in disease pathways and enhance the ability of scientists to carry out advanced biomedical research in a number of areas including the new fields of structural genomics, and proteomics. The NYSBC is bringing together a nexus of scientific talent to generate the sort of collaborative creative community that spawns new technologies and sparks new discoveries.

Participants

Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University
City University of New York
Columbia University
Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
Mount Sinai School of Medicine
New York University
Rockefeller University
Wadsworth Center of the Department of Health
Weill Medical College of Cornell University
State University of New York.

The momentum created by the New York Structural Biology Center has been fueled by an exceptional core group of scientists from the participating institutions who have taken an active role in the Center's development since its inception. The group has been expanded to include other scientists from throughout the area to develop plans for collaborative research projects and future expansion of the facility.

Location

The New York Structural Biology Center is located in its own building leased from CUNY adjacent to the City College campus of the City University of New York at Convent Avenue and 133rd Street.

The facility includes a 22,000 sq. ft., newly renovated building housing the high-field magnets and a Phase II area of more than 12,000 sq. ft. addition built to accommodate additional magnets, laboratories, computers, other new initiatives, and office and classroom space, built with funds from NIH and the City of New York.  The cryo electron microscopy facility, supported by funds from NYSTAR and NIH, was completed in 2006.

Implementation

For cryo electron microscopy –  a Technai F20 (200 kV) FEG microscope, a JEOL 1230 (120 kV) microscope, a JEOL 2100F (200 kV) FEG microscope, and a JEOL 3200FSC (300kV, He(l), Ω filter) microscpe.

CUNY faculty, postdocs, and students interested in scheduling time for cryo EM should contact Dr. Sacha De Carlo, Department of Chemistry, City College.

For NMR – a 900 MHz ultrashield system, a 900 MHz system, three 800 MHz spectrometers, a 700 MHz, a 600 MHz, and a 500 MHz system are operational. Solution state NMR systems operate with cryoprobes.  In addition, the NYSBC has a 750/89 WB for solid state spectra.

CUNY faculty, postdocs, and students interested in scheduling time for NMR should contact Dr. Ruth Stark, Department of Chemistry, City College.

For the beam line operations, see the X4a beamline page.